LERON WELLINGTON
Special to The Leader
As cliche as it sounds, music is universal and can be enjoyed by everyone. On March 15 in the Multipurpose Room in the Williams Center, Ethos New Music Society will be bringing musical group Roomful of Teeth to perform. At a first glance, one might assume that it is an average vocal ensemble, but that could not be further from the truth.
The words NPR used to describe the group aren’t like any that describe others, ranging from “non-traditionally classical” to “without borders.” The eight-voice ensemble uses a variety of singing techniques that it has learned from all around the world to perform pieces composed by new contemporary composers.
Gathering every year at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the group studies different types of singing like yodeling, Tuvan throat singing, belting and Georgian chant. According to The Nation, the group is “making some of the most rigorously venturesome and thrillingly inventive music being made by any ensemble, vocal or instrumental, today.”
Founded in 2009, the group features an array of members and composers that each have different backgrounds and who are performs and composers in their own rights.
For example, Caroline Shaw, who originally has a background in violin, is a Pulitzer Prize winner for music and has collaborated with Kanye West. The group has released two albums and has received a Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for its premier self-titled album.
Jared Yackiw, president of Ethos and a graduate music composition student, has been making preparations for the past year for bringing the group to campus and is looking forward for the students to see it. He was particularly interested in the group because “the group and its members have been on the new music radar and are really growing.”
Yackiw and Ethos have invited many different artists to campus for students to learn from and enjoy, but when it comes to Roomful of Teeth, he “just [wants] the students to go see and enjoy it like it is any other concert.” Being a personal fan of the group himself, Yackiw is very proud of having the “freakish opportunity” to bring the group that normally tours professionally here through a student organization.
Since this event is one of the bigger and more inclusive events presented by Ethos, many students are beginning to look forward to the group’s visit.
One of them being junior music industry and audio/radio production major Gabrielle Carr, who is in two of the a cappella groups (the Riveters and Dynamic Intonation) on campus.
“I’m really excited that ‘Roomful of Teeth’ is coming here,” she said. “What they do is so interesting and different than anything we have here at Fredonia. I’m glad Ethos decided to bring them in.”
In addition to the performance, Ethos and Spectrum have collaborated to host a free event on March 14 in Mason Hall 2140 at 5:30 p.m., where the members of Roomful of Teeth will give a free lecture and demonstration on a cappella singing. Both that event and the performance the following night are open to the public and welcomed by the two student groups.
This event may be one of the highlights of the events sponsored by Ethos, but according to Yackiw, the campus can expect to see more diverse guests and music for the rest of the semester, as well as in upcoming years.