Photo by Ilya Nikhamin

Hailed by NPR’s Fred Child as “one of the groups that has really helped to shape the future of classical music,” yMusic is a group of young performers actively engaged and equally comfortable in the overlapping classical and pop music worlds. The “six hip virtuosi” (Time Out NY) play a unique combination of instruments; the chamber ensemble is comprised of a traditional string trio as well as flute, clarinet and trumpet.  This exciting composite of sounds has sparked a burgeoning repertoire of commissions from some of today’s most important artists.  Annie Clark (St. Vincent), Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) andRyan Lott (Son Lux),  a select group of indie rock luminaries, have crafted instrumental works specifically for the ensemble. On its debut album, Beautiful Mechanical,  yMusic pairs these compositions with pieces by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, andGabriel Kahane. Beautiful Mechanical was recently named Time Out New York’s #1 Classical Record of 2011.

In addition to its work as a chamber ensemble, yMusic serves as a ready-made collaborative unit for artists interested in expanding their sonic palette on recordings and in performance. In March of 2010, the ensemble served as the instrumental cornerstone for Gabriel Kahane‘s Lincoln Center debut at American Songbook.  The following month, the group served as artist-in-residence at the MusicNow Festival in Cincinnati.  In addition to performing its own set, it joined St. Vincent and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) for collaborative performances in the historic Memorial Hall.  In both instances, yMusic was invited back the following year to accompany Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and debut a commissioned work by Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire). Members of yMusic also perform in The Long Count, a multimedia song-cycle written by The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner and visual artist, Matthew Ritchie.  Co-commissioned by the Krannert Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Long Count features guests vocalists Kim and Kelley Deal, Shara Worden and Matt Berninger and was performed during the 2009 Next Wave Festival with subsequent performances at the 2011 Holland Festival and in 2012 at The Barbican Centre, London.

yMusic was created in 2008 and its members have toured and recorded with top artists across genre lines such as Bon Iver, Bjork, Peter Gabriel,  Antony and the Johnsons, Ryuichi Sakamoto, The National, Rufus Wainwright, Grizzly Bear, Meredith Monk, Yo-Yo Ma, The New York Philharmonic, David Byrne and Sufjan Stevens. The ensemble is featured on Son Lux’s We Are Rising and My Brightest Diamond’s All Things Will Unwind.