2014: Emergency String (X)Tet

Mia Bella D'Augelli: violin
Jeff Hobbs: violin
Christina Stanley: violin
David Michalak: lap steel guitar
Doug Carroll: cello
Kanoko Nishi-Smith: bass, koto
Bob Marsh: cello, composer

The Emergency String (X)tet grew out of the ashes of Fred Longberg-Holm’s Phenomenal String Quartet in Chicago about fifteen years ago. After the dissolution of the Phenomenal Strings, founder Bob Marsh created The Emergency String (X)tet. Originally taking the form of a more conventional string quartet while engaging in a most non-traditional improvisational approach to the music, it has expanded to be more inclusive of numbers of players and the type of instruments involved. Thus, the “(X)’ refers not only to the unknown factor inherent in improvisation, but also to the number of players and instrumentation in any given performance creating exciting new, energetic and aural possibilities each time it performs. They combine free improvisation and the use of graphic scores in their performance. This year, at the 13th Annual Outsound New Music Summit the (X)tet will perform its world debut of a Terrascore for founder Bob Marsh's 70th birthday. The Terrascore is a musical geobiographic representation of an individual. This Terrascore will represent Detroit, Chicago, and San Francisco. They will also perform the original compositions “Window,” “Door,” “River,” and “Les Michilux 10.”

Artist (photo by Photographer)