Fly with Contemporary Classical Band, yMusic, on Their New Album Ecstatic Science
yMusic. Photo credit: Graham Tolbert
The incredibly talented yMusic released their fourth album, Ecstatic Science, with five new works and four major collaborators. This is truly a 40 minute experience that will have you feeling like you’re flying and seeing the tops of all the clouds!
yMusic is a unique group of six musicians who travel the world and perform the music they love. Most recently, they went on a sold-out world tour with Paul Simon, a legendary half of Simon & Garfunkel. Through their blends of string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet, yMusic bends our understanding of music genres and gives us a brand new appreciation for classical music through Ecstatic Science.
The band drew inspiration from Missy Mazzoli, Paul Wiancko, Caroline Shaw and Gabriella Smith, the four featured composers for their fourth album. “They are four of the most prominent composers of our generation,” trumpet player, CJ Camerieri said. “To have an album featuring such remarkable works by these unique talents is such a joy to present.”
THEIR INSPIRATION
The band wanted to illuminate the future of composition to give fans a new perspective on instrumental music. Because the band members enjoy music so much, they are passionate about bringing that joy to new listeners. The group recorded these pieces two days after performing them at National Sawdust, the live music venue in Brooklyn, New York.
The lineup for this album came from a mix of old and new friends. Cellist Gabriel Cabezas shared that they brought in new pieces from long-time friends as well as pieces from new friends. Caroline Shaw’s work was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the band’s 2016 recital at Zankel, and Missy Mazzoli’s work premiered in Sydney, Australia while yMusic was on tour with Ben Folds.
“We fell in love with these pieces and felt that hearing them together had an internal musical logic, despite these composers working totally different sound worlds from each other, and would make a compelling album,” Cabezas said.
THEIR COLLABORATORS
One advantage, of many, to having a six person band is the group’s endless musical connections. Band members were excited to introduce new collaborators through their artistic community.
“yMusic has always looked to our immediate artistic community for collaborators and projects — basically: we love to work with our friends,” said violist Nadia Sirota. “As we’ve all gotten older, it’s been thrilling to watch as our friends have honed their craft and become real leaders in the field.”
Sirota also said that the group did find it challenging to work with new collaborators (that’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen!) but the key is finding their groove together. The group, and their collaborators, love tapping into their ever-expanding community and finding new ways to collaborate creatively.
Violinist Rob Moose was thrilled by the addition of cellist, composer, and collaborator Paul Wiancko. “We were blown away by the fact that, in his demo of the piece, he played all three string parts,” Moose said. “He's a super talent whose career is exploding — and we are excited to be a part of that!”
NAMING THE ALBUM
The title of the album, Ecstatic Science, came from Missy Mazzoli’s piece by the same name. The cover art, designed by flautist Alex Sopp, is the window of an airplane and was inspired by the band’s love of flying. (Fun fact: The back cover of the album actually models a flight safety manual that Sopp designed. After drawing it he started getting them laminated and leaving them on planes!)
The band enjoys all things air travel, including cloud gazing through the airplane window. The band has many in-flight traditions, including keeping any eye out for funny names of flight attendants, speech patterns and announcement styles of certain pilots, and comparing their notes afterward. Another thing Sopp enjoys doing on flights? Leaving famous love poems and letters on barf bags (a kind gesture for someone who may really need it mid-flight)!
“The act of flying in a hulking metal contraption, weightless with the clouds, is itself an ecstatic science, just as the thought patterns and accessibility to emotion that I feel up there are. Being a person and seeing the tops of clouds is ecstatic science,” Sopp said. Well, don’t wait any longer! Purchase Ecstatic Science here.
