June 6, 2007

Electra to Bring an Exhilarating Performance of Electra & Film to MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.) In some cases diversity can be the key to creativity. That is certainly the inspiration for Electra, a quartet based in the Netherlands, whose members hail from the USA, Bulgaria, Austria, and Germany respectfully. What makes the power quartet even more captivating is the mix of instruments the women play including electric violin, percussion, soprano, and recorder. Electra will be bringing their acclaimed program Electra & Film to MASS MoCA as part of NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires on Friday, July 6 at 9 PM.

Electra combines the latest new music, working with established composers and discovering new collaborations, with visual and theatrical elements to create highly original and critically lauded programs. Since Electra's creation in 1997, Monica Germino, Tatiana Koleva, Michaela Riener and Susanna Borsch have performed at venues and festivals around the world including appearances in London, Paris, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy and Norway. In 2004 the quartet made their United States debut at the festival 'Sonic Evolutions' at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, about which The New York Times raved, "brilliantly played performance… an explosive energy."

For Electra and Film the quartet will perform The New Math(s), a collaboration between Electra and composer Louis Andriessen, in which the composer has challenged the group to break boundaries and their own comfort levels such as using only their voices and adapting to instruments like the traverso, a flute like instrument. The film version of The New Math(s), created by Andriessen and filmmaker Hal Hartley, will be shown on MASS MoCA's giant outdoor screen, the largest in the Berkshires, while Electra will accompany the film by performing the score live. Electra & Film will also include performances that align with films such as choreographer and filmmaker Betsy Torenbos' Shopping List of a Poisoner, Ron Ford's Seeds of Paradise based on a Japanese haiku, and Donnaha Dennehy's aural and theatrical The Weathering.

In addition to Electra & Film the quartet will share their diabolical rendition of composer Chiel Meijering music to the Zanne Bekirovich art film Witches & Bitches. De Volkskrant describes, "The program of the ensemble ELECTRA will certainly not bore… film, video, and sound samples combine with recorder, percussion, violin and soprano. Glistening outfits and well thought out direction enliven the stage."

Tickets for Electra with Film are $14 in advance/ $18 day of show. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Wednesday through Monday (June 30 through September 4, from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org