Set 7 – c_RL – Allison Cameron Mini Festival
Allison Cameron is a professional composer, performer and improvising musician in Toronto. She has been commissioned in Europe and North America by many ensembles and festivals. Since 2000, she has been performing improvised music using electronic keyboards, ukulele, banjo, piano, mini amplifiers, radios, crackle boxes, cassette tapes, miscellaneous objects and toys. Allison has been celebrated in Musicworks Magazine, The Wire Magazine, I Care if You Listen, Exclaim! and a variety of other publications. Her reputation for writing compelling compositions for contemporary music ensembles is international.
Allison’s piece 3rds, 4ths and 5ths from the release A Gossamer Bit was featured in UK’s The Wire Magazine: Best of 2015. More of her music and work can be found at: www.allisoncameron.com.
This past year the improvising trio she co-founded with Germaine Liu and Nicole Rampersaud c_RL (pronounced curl) was a featured performer at the international conference After Experimental Music in Ithaca, NY and at Toronto’s Tone Festival sharing a concert with New York pianist Anthony Coleman. Along with winning the 2018 KM Hunter Award for music in Ontario, the Arraymusic mini-festival of her music is one of the highlights of her career. http://allisoncameron.com/
Nicole Rampersaud is a Canadian Trumpet Player, Composer, and Recording Artist, focused on creating music that cuts through genre, culture, and hyperbole to create resonate experiences that connect people from all walks of life. Through Improvisation and Experimentalism, Nicole creates a unique yet versatile sonic language that easily adapts to any musical situation, attesting to her relentless ambition to expand her proficiency with a broad range of musical practices and traditions. She is an established and resourceful side person, having worked with a diverse and ever-expanding group of musicians including: Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris, Rakalam Bob Moses, and Sandro Perri, to name a few.
Nicole has been performing and composing solo trumpet music since 2008, and continues to use this as a vehicle to deconstruct and abstract the trumpet’s traditional sonic possibilities. In solo performances, Nicole improvises composites of her pieces in the moment, resulting in compelling structures that engage, challenge, and, ultimately, involve audiences in the creation of a connected experience.
Nicole is a founding member of the Canadian improvising trio, c_RL, featuring Percussionist and Composer, Germaine Liu and Composer and Improviser, Allison Cameron. She also works extensively with pianist Marilyn Lerner as the duo, Brass Knuckle Sandwich. As a Composer, Nicole’s works have been performed at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales, the Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York, and the Suddenly Listen series in Halifax. She has received multiple grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
In addition to her projects as a leader, Nicole is currently a member of Brodie West’s Eucalyptus, and performs with Joseph Shabason. 2019 will see the release of a new mixtape project, new albums by c_RL, and Brass Knuckle Sandwich, and new collaborations with Guitarist and Improviser, Joel LeBlanc. https://nicolerampersaud.com/bio/
Germaine Liu is a Toronto-based percussionist, performer and composer. Her compositional interests involve collaborations with people or the objects she plays and joyful explorations of everyday gestures and feelings. Recent collaborations include CeramiX with artist Chiho Tokita, creating compositions to Tokita’s ceramic works and Water Music with Joe Sorbara and Mark Zurawinski, exploring sounds of water. Liu has performed as a soloist and has been privileged to collaborate with many wonderful musicians, dancers and artists. She is part of a number of Toronto-based ensembles, including c_RL with Nicole Rampersaud and Allison Cameron, Octopus with Mark Zurawinski, The Titillators, andPicastro.