Jeffrey Gavett

effrey Gavett, baritone, is dedicated to the creation and presentation of new music as composer, performer and improviser. He has performed with a broad range of collaborators, from the Rolling Stones and indie rock group Clogs to new music groups Alarm Will Sound, ICE, New Juilliard Ensemble, Red Light New Music, Roomful of Teeth, SEM Ensemble, Signal, Talea Ensemble, Le Train Bleu, and Wet Ink Ensemble. His own mixed ensemble loadbang has premiered more than 250 new works since 2008, writing their own music, improvising, and working closely with composers to create a repertoire for their unique instrumentation (trumpet, trombone, bass clarinet, baritone voice). In 2010 he founded the Ekmeles vocal ensemble, which is dedicated to performing new works for a cappella voices and classics of the avant garde. Ekmeles has been praised by the New York Times for their “extraordinary sense of pitch”, and described as “virtuosically adventurous” by Alex Ross.

As a solo vocalist, he has performed in Alice Tully Hall, Issue Project Room, The Kitchen, Le Poisson Rouge, Merkin Hall, Roulette, The Stone, and Zankel Hall. He has also championed new theatrical and operatic works, giving the US premiere of Steven Takasugi’s Strange Autumn, and singing numerous premieres under the auspices of American Opera Projects and Experiments in Opera. He was involved in the World Premiere of the full version of Xenakis's Oresteïa, which took place at Miller Theater, featuring ICE conducted by Steven Osgood; Mr. Gavett sang in the chorus and covered the twin roles of Kassandra and Athena, later performing the complete role in concert. He made his European stage debut in 2014, performing in Rudolf Komorous’s Nonomiya and the world premiere of Petr Kotik’s Master-Pieces at New Opera Days Ostrava in the Czech Republic, and singing Berio’s Coro under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle at the Lucerne Festival Academy. In January 2015 he made his European solo recital debut in Reykjavik as part of Dark Music Days; and toured Europe with Annie Dorsen's Yesterday/Tomorrow, performing at the Holland Festival, in Strasbourg, Oslo, and Zagreb.

Mr. Gavett is also an accomplished ensemble singer, having performed with the choirs of Trinity Wall Street, St. Thomas Church, and St. Bartholomew’s Church. He also joined George Steel’s Vox Vocal Ensemble to sing in the inaugural concert given at EMPAC in Troy, New York.

As a conductor, Mr. Gavett has led orchestral works by Andy Akiho, cello octets for W4 New Music, and many concerts with his vocal ensemble Ekmeles, mostly from within the ensemble. In 2012 he stepped out in front of Ekmeles to conduct the U.S. premiere of Luigi Nono's Quando stanno morendo in collaboration with AMP New Music.

As a composer, Mr. Gavett has had his works performed at the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival, Greenwich House Music School, Issue Project Room, Manhattan School of Music, The Stone, and The Tank. His work involves computer-aided composition and various systems of microtonality. He has lectured on solo voice repertoire at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, the history of notation at Framingham State University, on microtones at the University of Southern Illinois, and is on the vocal faculty at Longy School of Music of Bard College. Upcoming projects include a new work for loadbang.

Mr. Gavett holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, where he received prizes in voice, composition, and German, and from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Lucy Shelton as part of the inaugural class of the Contemporary Performance Program.