Empyrean Ensemble
Sam Nichols, director • Matilda Hofman, resident conductor
Musicians Playing—
Tod Brody, flute
Sandy McPherson, clarinet
Jennifer Ellis, harp Michael Seth
Orland, piano
Chris Froh, percussion
Hrabba Atladottir, violin Ellen Ruth Rose, viola
Leighton Fong, cello
Program
Dean Kervin Boursiquot: Serving Realness WORLD
PREMIERE
Stephen Ryan Jackson: Antrum Crepitus WORLD
PREMIERE
Kory Reeder: My Mother Made Many Blankets
Amber Vistein: The Auscultation of Weathered
Breath WORLD PREMIERE
The Department of Music and the Mondavi Center for the Performing
Arts at UC Davis present the 2025 Taproot New
Music Festival, with the majority of the concerts taking place
November 6–9. During this traditionally biennial festival, nine
participating composers will work with exceptional
artists to produce new works.
Ensemble Dal Niente performs, develops, and sustains new and
experimental music for small to large chamber ensemble. Dal
Niente is dedicated to growing relationships with artists,
composers, and listeners; advancing distinct and challenging
musical voices; and sharing that work with their Chicago, United
States, and international communities. Four composers will
work with Dal Niente:
Sam Nichols, director
Professor of Teaching, Department of Music
Matilda Hofman, conductor-in-residence
Continuing Lecturer, Department of Music
Ensemble-in-residence at UC Davis, the Empyrean Ensemble presents
engaging and eclectic programs, inviting audiences to experience
new musical sensations delivered with high artistry by its
extraordinary players—among the finest new music performers in
California. Four composers will work with Empyrean:
Christian Baldini, music director and conductor
Professor of Music, Department of Music
The UC Davis Symphony Orchestra is a university student and
community orchestra in residence at the Mondavi Center — equally
committed to performing the most provocative music of the
orchestral repertoire and the work of living composers at UC
Davis and from afar.
Mission
The Taproot New Music Festival brings together a diverse group of
composers and performers, both local and visiting, and gives them
the chance to hear new work, and to make lasting connections. A
biennial festival at UC Davis, it features concerts and other
events, and also creates the opportunity for our students to work
alongside exceptional artists. Actively inclusive and
participatory, Taproot broadcasts a unique vision of how to
sustain a musical community.
Matilda Hofman has a varied and busy conducting schedule.
Reviewers have described her conducting as “taut and finely
controlled” and giving “a striking sense of purpose.” She is
Music Director of the Diablo Symphony Orchestra,
conductor-in-residence for the Empyrean Ensemble at UC Davis and
Artistic Director of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. Matilda
also serves as a cover conductor for the San Francisco Symphony.
Dean Kervin Boursiquot, born in 1986, is a
first-generation Haitian-American, and New York native. The
guitar, film music, and music from the twentieth century sparked
his interest in music composition. While in New York, he received
his bachelor’s degree in composition at Mannes College the New
School for Music. Notable awards include: Vox Novus
Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Parhelion Trio 2012, Peter Gross grant
2010, Mannes Orchestra Competition 2009, CRICE
(composer-in-residence Chamber-Ensemble) commission and second
place Jean Schneider Goberman Prize 2009.
