Ghost Ensemble
Sky Macklay, oboe
Ben Richter, accordion
Lucia Stavros, harp
Martine Thomas, viola
T.J. Borden, cello
James Ilgenfritz, bass

Ghost Ensemble is a mixed chamber ensemble dedicated to experimental music that expands perceptual horizons to foster individual and community transformation. Performances (such as this one) often incorporate “Deep Listening,” a practice pioneered by ensemble mentor Pauline Oliveros that encourages a heightened awareness of sound, space, and community.

Program

Four world premieres by graduate student composers in music—

• Max Gibson: GOVERNOR RUDDER’S CONSTELLATORY ODYSSEY 
• Bryndan Moondy: “the meadow where time is carried”​
• Peter Chatterjee: Lullabies
• Joseph Donald Peterson: All of this turbulence . . .

Sky Macklay: It has come to my attention that I have a sexy voice

Ben Richter: Portent of Laramidia

Free

About the Ensemble

Ghost Ensemble is a mixed chamber ensemble dedicated to experimental music that expands perceptual horizons to foster individual and community transformation. Established in 2012, the ensemble conducts long-term exploratory workshops with a broad range of composers and creators to nurture adventurous new music over multiple seasons. Providing opportunities for new musical concepts that may not easily find a platform in traditional settings, the ensemble commissions, germinates, premieres, and tours music that moves beyond boundaries of genre, style, and scene. Performances and workshops also often incorporate Deep Listening, a practice pioneered by ensemble mentor Pauline Oliveros that encourages a heightened awareness of sound, space, and community. Ghost Ensemble’s collaborators have included Elizabeth Adams, Marguerite Brown, Laura Cetilia, Sarah Davachi, Kyle Gann, Assaf Gidron, Liisa Hirsch, Ravi Kittappa, Catherine Lamb, Miya Masaoka, Phill Niblock, Lester St. Louis, Teodora Stepančić, Cassia Streb, Yasunao Tone, Chaz Underriner, and Lucie Vítková. The ensemble has released four albums: We Who Walk Again (2018, Indexical), with music by Macklay, Oliveros, and Richter; Mountain Air (2021, Indexical), with music by Oliveros, Brown, and Stepančić; Ben Richter’s Rewild (2024, New World Records); and Catherine Lamb’s interius/exterius (2025, greyfade). Ghost Ensemble also appears on James Ilgenfritz’s Stay logged in on this trusted device (2024) and Indexical’s Ghost Ensemble and Lightbulb Ensemble Live at Pioneer Works (2015).

Ghost Ensemble has received support from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Amherst Cultural Council, Amphion Foundation, Chamber Music America, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Earthdance, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, I-Park Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and Oak Spring Garden Foundation, among others. Critics have praised Ghost Ensemble performances as “prodigious … a thrilling listen” (Christian Carey, Sequenza21), “gorgeous…arresting…lingering, unspooling and evading time…suggesting an eternal process” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily), “beautifully performed and recorded … a body-felt sound mass … a multifaceted texture that evokes the primeval” (Meg Wilhoite, Meg’s New Music Blog), “cloudy, mysterious, and dark … Beckettian in its slow spread” (Brian Olewnick, Just Outside), and “strong music, made with a singular spirit” (George Grella, New York Classical Review).