New Music Ensemble to celebrate modern music, dance in collaborative concert

Grand Valley’s award-winning New Music Ensemble will unite with the Kalamazoo-based Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers for a concert celebrating modern dance and music. "Orbit: Concert of Modern Dance/Modern Music" will take place Saturday, September 26, at 8 p.m. at the Peter Martin Wege Theatre (341 Ellsworth Ave. SW) in Grand Rapids.

During the event, the Wellspring dancers will perform original choreography set to an original composition by Bill Ryan, New Music Ensemble director. Ryan said experiences like collaborating with the Wellspring Dancers gives his students a taste of the kind of work they can expect to encounter after graduating from Grand Valley.

“The students get to experience putting together a live show in partnership with a professional dance company,” Ryan said. “The production pressure and expectations are different when working with a professional group.”

The nationally recognized New Music Ensemble promotes contemporary music with roots in jazz, rock, pop, and minimalism. The ensemble has released three critically acclaimed recordings that have appeared on “best release lists” by The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Weekly and Time Out Chicago. The group has performed at the Bang On a Can Marathon in New York City, the College Music Society National Conference in Atlanta, New Music Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music marathon and Carnegie Hall.

Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers is a 34-year-old modern dance company that has performed with many different music ensembles including Detroit Dance Collective, the Cavani String Quartet, Opus 21, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and many others.

For ticket pricing and purchasing, visit https://www.artful.ly/store/events/6660 or call (269) 342-4354.