pulsoptional

listen to pulsoptional: Stain Renga Duos I_Casers

"pulsoptional ROCKS!..." This unusual ensemble configures and reconfigures to bring audiences the newest of the new... pulsoptional boasts the ability to assemble unusually varied programs and present them dramatically. This group is a combined electric and acoustic musical phenomenon that appeals to young and seasoned alike" - John McDonald, Composer and Pianist, Medford, MA - June 7, 2004

Since the spring of 2000, pulsoptional, the boundary-breaking ensemble and composers' collective, has cultivated a diverse, devoted audience and attracts listeners new to contemporary music with its innovative programming and provocative compositions. pulsoptional creates and performs new experimental works for its eclectic instrumentation: bassoon, oboe, violin, piano, percussion, classical guitar, and electric guitar and electronics. This instrumental amalgam and the group's palpable high energy inform pulsoptional's unique sound.

pulsoptional commissions new music by emerging composers and maintains a repertoire of experimental "classics" with an emphasis on the experimental tradition. The ensemble has appeared in music festivals, rock clubs, dance spaces and other non-traditional venues, as well as prestigious concert halls.

pulsoptional will kick off the 2004-2005 season with its national tour featuring new arrangements of Henry Cowell's music by the ensemble's award-winning composers. This exciting new undertaking is sponsored by the American Music Center's Henry Cowell Performance INcentive Fund. Sites for the tour include Tufts University and Greensboro College.

The ensemble was featured on the Duke Institute of the Arts "New Directions" concert series and on Duke University's prestigious Encounters with The Music of Out Time concert series and has appeared at the Chapel Hill Arts 'Round Town and the Durham Music Festivals. pulsoptional has offered performance residencies at the North Carolina School of Science and Math and Duke University. The organization has been honored with grants from the Alliance for Improvised Music, The American Music Center, the Durham Arts Council and Duke University, among others.

pulsoptional will co-release its first full-length album this fall under its label, FuguFish Recording, with carbonrecords of Rochester, NY. The ensemble is featured on the soon-to-be released documentary, Fully Awake: The Black Mountain College Experience.