Susie Ibarra
Encyclopedia
Susie Ibarra is a Contemporary Composer
and Percussionist who has worked and recorded with jazz
, classical
, world, and Indigenous musicians. She is known for her work as a performer in avant-garde
, jazz, world and new music. As a composer, Ibarra incorporates diverse styles and influences of Philippine Kulintang
, jazz, classical, poetry
, musical theater, opera
and electronic music
. Ibarra remains active as a composer, performer, educator and documentary filmmaker in the U.S., Philippines and internationally. She is interested and involved in works that blend folkloric and Indigenous tradition with avant-garde. In 2004, Ibarra began field recording indigenous Philippine music and co-founded in 2009, Song of the Bird King, an organization focusing on preservation of Indigenous music and ecology
. She currently resides with her husband, Cuban Composer and Percussionist, Roberto Juan Rodriguez and their son, Emanuel, in Forest Hills
, Queens
, New York
.
. Her parents Bartolome and Herminia Ibarra are both physicians who immigrated from the Philippines. Ibarra is the youngest of five children. She began playing piano at the age of four. In grade school she sang in church and school choirs and played in a punk rock band in high school. While at Sarah Lawrence College
in the late 1980s, Ibarra attended a Sun Ra
performance which she has credited with kindling her interest in jazz. She also attended the Mannes College The New School for Music, and Goddard College
, where she received her B.A. in Music.
Ibarra has lived in New York since 1989.
She has studied with notable Jazz and Avant-Jazz drummers Vernel Fournier
, Earl Buster Smith
and Milford Graves
. She has studied Philippine Kulintang music with National Endowment for the Arts
Heritage Artist and USA Artists Danongan "Danny" Kalanduyan as well as the Kalanduyan family in the United States and in Cotabato
, Mindanao
Philippines.
, “Changing the Game” December 2010. She is a member of the Modern Drummer Pro-Panel discussion on drumming and music for 2011. Ibarra is a Yamaha Drums
, Vic Firth
and Paiste
Cymbals Artist.
Susie Ibarra continues to tour and perform internationally in music festivals and other venues. She has received music commissions and has performed her work for Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall
, NYC; Smithsonian Institution
, Washington, D.C.
; The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.; Banlieues Bleues Festival in Paris
; Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland
; Philippine Women's University
in Manila
; Lincoln Center in NYC; San Francisco Jazz Festival
; TED (conference)
in Long Beach, California
; Fundació Joan Miró
in Barcelona
, Spain; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; De Singel in Antwerp; the Barbican Centre
in the United Kingdom
.
She has performed and recorded with noted artists among others
Pauline Oliveros
, John Zorn
, Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
, Yusef Komunyakaa
, Trisha Brown
, Tania Leon
, Roberto Juan Rodriguez, Makoto Fujimura
, Juan Sanchez, Jim Clark, Jude Tallichet, Laiwan Chung, Min Xiaofen, Derek Bailey, Ikue Mori
, Sylvie Courvoisier
, William Parker (musician)
, David S. Ware
, Assif Tsahar
, Matthew Shipp
, Billy Bang
, Jeanne Lee
, Miya Masaoka
, George Lewis (trombonist)
, Dr. L. Subramaniam
, Kavita Krishnamurthi, Wang Ping (author)
, Luis Francia, Wadada Leo Smith
, Mark Dresser
, Kathleen Supové, Jennifer Choi
, Craig Taborn
, Bridget Kibbey, Jade Simmons
, Arto Lindsay
, Thurston Moore
, Prefuse 73, Yo La Tengo
, Humanfolk
, Mephista.
Fellowship to research Indigenous and Folkloric music in the Philippines. Ibarra and her husband, Roberto Juan Rodriguez, researched, recorded and filmed seven endangered Indigenous tribes in the Philippines in 2008-2009, as well as documented the conservation efforts on behalf of the near extinct Philippine eagle
. They co-founded, in 2009, Song of the Bird King to focus on the preservation of Indigenous music and Ecology.
Susie Ibarra is recipient of the 2010 TED Fellowship “recognizing her as a young world-changer and trailblazer who has shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage.” She was also awarded a 2010 New York Foundation for the Arts
fellowship for Music Composition and a 2008 Asian Cultural Council Rockefeller Fellow. Because of her research in Folkloric and Indigenous music in the Philippines with seven Indigenous tribes, Asia Society
nominated her as a delegate of Asia 21 Young World Leaders Summit:“Unity Through Diversity” in Jakarta
, 2010.
of the Smithsonian Institution in conjunction with the first Filipino photography exhibit by Ricardo Alvarado. Recorded on Tzadik Records
and performed by Jennifer Choi (violin), Craig Taborn (piano), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) and Ibarra (drums and percussion).
In 2006 Ibarra released, Dialects by Electric Kulintang on Plastic Records, a duo collaboration with Roberto Juan Rodriguez with compositions featuring electronics, kulintang gongs, percussion, drums and field recordings.
In 2007, American Composers Orchestra
commissioned Pintados Dream/The Painted’s Dream, a drum concerto with Ibarra soloing, a chamber orchestra and visual art by Makoto Fujimura
which world premiered at Carnegie Zankel Hall in October of that year.
In February 2007 she composed for a commission by Ars Nova Workshop in Philadelphia, Kit: Music for Four Pianists, eight hand piano, in a evening work of Ibarra’s percussion music.
Also in 2007, her solo CD, Drum Sketches, was commissioned by The Brecht Forum
and American Composers Forum
on Innova Recordings. These solo pieces are performed and recorded by Ibarra on drum kit, sarunay and kulintang (Philippine xylophone and eight rowed gongs), also including field recordings. They are sonic sketches of Ibarra’s sound that include both traditional and avant-garde musical idioms.
In August 2008, MoMa Summergarden and Jazz at Lincoln Center
commissioned Ibarra for a premiere of Summer Fantasy and Folklore at the MoMa Summergarden. Ibarra premiered the suite inspired by summers in Houston, New York and Manila with the debut of her quartet featuring Jennifer Choi (violin), Kathleen Supove (piano), Bridget Kibbey (harp) and Susie Ibarra (drumset and percussion).
Also in 2008, Ibarra composed and recorded the music for video installation art, Madre Selva: Homage to Ana Mendieta, created by Visual Artist and Guggenheim Fellow, Juan Sanchez for his exhibition at Lehigh University
's Zoellner Arts Center
, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
. The art work is a tribute to the late Cuban American sculptor, installation and performance artist, Ana Mendieta
.
In 2010 Music Theatre Group produced two residencies of Saturnalia a new music theatre work, composed by Ibarra, written by Yusef Komunyakaa
, directed by Daniel Fish and music directed by John diPinto. The new music work features 10 actor/singers, the Young Peoples Chorus of NYC, and a chamber ensemble. Saturnalia is a bicultural musical theatre work sung in English and Thai. The story is set in Thailand and portrays the illusion of Paradise that masks a psychological warfare in the minds of US soldiers, and business men and women enslaved in sex trafficking.
Ibarra will continue performing with her chamber jazz ensemble, Susie Ibarra Quartet, featuring Bridget Kibbey (harp), Kathleen Supove (piano), Jennifer Choi (violin) and Ibarra (drumset and percussion).
Ibarra will record and release in 2011, Mysteries of Nature, music for solo, duos and quartets with guest soloists.
, Philippines, the Peace Museum in Nepal
, and a children's foundation to help orphans in China
whose parents have died or are dying of AIDS
.
Song of the Bird King will launch a new label, SOTBK, in 2011 to feature contemporary Indigenous music
and public service compilation CDs.
A Song of the Bird King titled film, on the lives and stories of seven Indigenous Filipino tribes is a work in progress.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and Percussionist who has worked and recorded with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, world, and Indigenous musicians. She is known for her work as a performer in avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
, jazz, world and new music. As a composer, Ibarra incorporates diverse styles and influences of Philippine Kulintang
Kulintang
Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums...
, jazz, classical, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, musical theater, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. Ibarra remains active as a composer, performer, educator and documentary filmmaker in the U.S., Philippines and internationally. She is interested and involved in works that blend folkloric and Indigenous tradition with avant-garde. In 2004, Ibarra began field recording indigenous Philippine music and co-founded in 2009, Song of the Bird King, an organization focusing on preservation of Indigenous music and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. She currently resides with her husband, Cuban Composer and Percussionist, Roberto Juan Rodriguez and their son, Emanuel, in Forest Hills
Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood is home to upper-middle class residents, of whom the wealthier residents often live in the neighborhood's Forest Hills Gardens area...
, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Early Years
Ibarra was born in Anaheim, California and raised in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Her parents Bartolome and Herminia Ibarra are both physicians who immigrated from the Philippines. Ibarra is the youngest of five children. She began playing piano at the age of four. In grade school she sang in church and school choirs and played in a punk rock band in high school. While at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
in the late 1980s, Ibarra attended a Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
performance which she has credited with kindling her interest in jazz. She also attended the Mannes College The New School for Music, and Goddard College
Goddard College
Goddard College is a private, liberal arts college located in Plainfield, Vermont, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Goddard College currently operates on an intensive low-residency model...
, where she received her B.A. in Music.
Ibarra has lived in New York since 1989.
She has studied with notable Jazz and Avant-Jazz drummers Vernel Fournier
Vernel fournier
Vernel Anthony Fournier and, from 1975, known as Amir Rushdan, was a jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Ahmad Jamal from 1956 to 1962....
, Earl Buster Smith
Buster Smith
Henry "Buster" Smith , also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s...
and Milford Graves
Milford Graves
Milford Graves is an American jazz drummer and percussionist, most noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the early 1960s with Paul Bley and the New York Art Quartet...
. She has studied Philippine Kulintang music with National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Heritage Artist and USA Artists Danongan "Danny" Kalanduyan as well as the Kalanduyan family in the United States and in Cotabato
Cotabato
Cotabato , is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao...
, Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
Philippines.
As a Performer
She was named Best Percussionist in the 2010 Downbeat International Readers Poll and Best Percussionist, Rising Star in the 2009 Downbeat Critics Poll. Ibarra has been featured on the cover of percussion magazines such as Tom-Tom, September 2010 and Modern DrummerModern Drummer
Modern Drummer is a monthly publication targeting the interests of on drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public...
, “Changing the Game” December 2010. She is a member of the Modern Drummer Pro-Panel discussion on drumming and music for 2011. Ibarra is a Yamaha Drums
Yamaha Drums
Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation founded in 1967. The company manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits as well as percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware.-Production:...
, Vic Firth
Vic Firth
Vic Firth is an American musician and is the founder of Vic Firth Company , a percussion stick and mallet manufacturing company that he started in 1963. The company bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of drum sticks and mallets...
and Paiste
Paiste
Paiste, a Swiss manufacturer and designer, is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. Paiste is an Estonian/Finnish word which means "shine"...
Cymbals Artist.
Susie Ibarra continues to tour and perform internationally in music festivals and other venues. She has received music commissions and has performed her work for Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, NYC; Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.; Banlieues Bleues Festival in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; Tampere Jazz Happening in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
; Philippine Women's University
Philippine Women's University
The Philippine Women's University is a non-sectarian academic institution for men and women in the Philippines, founded in 1919 as the Philippine Women's College by Filipino women who envisioned a school that would prepare young women for leadership and service...
in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
; Lincoln Center in NYC; San Francisco Jazz Festival
San Francisco Jazz Festival
Debuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education...
; TED (conference)
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
; Fundació Joan Miró
Fundació Joan Miró
The ' is a museum of modern art honoring Joan Miró and located on the hill called Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia.-History:...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; De Singel in Antwerp; the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
She has performed and recorded with noted artists among others
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
, John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter and composer whose music derives from many non-jazz musical styles, including classical music, folk music from European countries and Klezmer. He has been a member of the experimental big band Orange Then Blue...
, Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
, Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
, Tania Leon
Tania Leon
Tania León is a Cuban composer and conductor who has been recognized as an educator and advisor to arts organizations.-León's Music:...
, Roberto Juan Rodriguez, Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura is a 21st Century Contemporary Artist. He graduated with a B.A. from Bucknell University, then studied in a traditional Japanese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami...
, Juan Sanchez, Jim Clark, Jude Tallichet, Laiwan Chung, Min Xiaofen, Derek Bailey, Ikue Mori
Ikue Mori
, also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, composer, and graphic designer.-Biography:Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She says she had little interest in music before hearing punk rock...
, Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier
Sylvie Courvoisier is a Swiss composer and pianist.Courvoisier was born and raised in Switzerland. In 1998, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she currently resides. She co-leads the Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman Quartet and leads her own quintet, Lonelyville, and the Trio Abaton...
, William Parker (musician)
William Parker (musician)
William Parker is an American free jazz double bassist, poet and composer.-Biography:Parker was not formally trained as a classical player, though he did study with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware and learned the tradition. Parker is one of few jazz bassists who regularly plays arco...
, David S. Ware
David S. Ware
David Spencer Ware , is an American jazz saxophonist.Ware grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. He attended the Berklee College of Music and worked in New York City as a cab driver for 14 years, later returning to Scotch Plains to live...
, Assif Tsahar
Assif Tsahar
Assif Tsahar is an Israeli tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist. He has lived in New York City since 1990.He has performed with Cecil Taylor, Butch Morris, William Parker, Mat Maneri, Hamid Drake, Peter Kowald, Susie Ibarra, Rashied Ali, Warren Smith, Wilbur Morris, Le Quan Ninh, John Tchicai,...
, Matthew Shipp
Matthew Shipp
Matthew Shipp is an American pianist, composer and bandleader.Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown....
, Billy Bang
Billy Bang
Billy Bang was an American free jazz violinist and composer.-Biography:...
, Jeanne Lee
Jeanne Lee
Jeanne Lee was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers which included Gunter Hampel, Ran Blake, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, and many...
, Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka is an American musician and composer who performs on the 17-string Japanese koto zither, often augmenting it with string preparations and electronic triggers...
, George Lewis (trombonist)
George Lewis (trombonist)
George E. Lewis is a trombone player, composer, and scholar in the fields of jazz and experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians since 1971, and is a pioneer of computer music.- Biography :Lewis graduated from Yale University with a...
, Dr. L. Subramaniam
L. Subramaniam
Dr. Lakshminarayana Subramaniam is an acclaimed Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music, and renowned for his virtuoso playing techniques and compositions in orchestral fusion.-Early years:Subramaniam was born to V...
, Kavita Krishnamurthi, Wang Ping (author)
Wang Ping (author)
Wang Ping is a Chinese-American author and academic. Ping's writings center around the past and present of China, and the experiences of Chinese immigrants in America.-Life and education:...
, Luis Francia, Wadada Leo Smith
Wadada Leo Smith
Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith is a trumpeter and composer working primarily in the fields of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation.-Biography:...
, Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.-Biography:He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne,...
, Kathleen Supové, Jennifer Choi
Jennifer Choi
Jennifer Choi is an American violinist based in New York City. Choi graduated from the Juilliard School and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music....
, Craig Taborn
Craig Taborn
Craig Taborn is an American keyboardist and composer. Playing piano, organ, and Moog synthesizer, Taborn has worked mostly in jazz, although he also does dark ambient and techno music....
, Bridget Kibbey, Jade Simmons
Jade Simmons
Jade Simmons, née Smalls, is an American classical pianist. She has been chosen as Concert Artist Guild’s New Music/New Places Fellow, and the Washington Post branded her “A clear, powerful pianist with a magnetic personality…worth seeing any time.”...
, Arto Lindsay
Arto Lindsay
Arthur Morgan Lindsay is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He is a 1974 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida....
, Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, Prefuse 73, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, Humanfolk
HUMANFOLK
HUMANFOLK is the musical collaboration and concept band of guitarist-composer, Johnny Alegre with the New York based Fil-Am percussionist, Susie Ibarra and her husband, drummer Roberto Juan Rodriguez, together with the multi-instrumentalist Cynthia Alexander and the electronica exponent, Malek Lopez...
, Mephista.
Indigenous Music and Ecology
Ibarra began field recording kulintang gong music in the Philippines in 2004. In 2008, she received an Asian Cultural CouncilAsian Cultural Council
The Asian Cultural Council is an American non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to Asian-American cultural exchange in the areas of visual and performing arts.- History :...
Fellowship to research Indigenous and Folkloric music in the Philippines. Ibarra and her husband, Roberto Juan Rodriguez, researched, recorded and filmed seven endangered Indigenous tribes in the Philippines in 2008-2009, as well as documented the conservation efforts on behalf of the near extinct Philippine eagle
Philippine Eagle
The Philippine Eagle , also known as the Monkey-eating Eagle, is an eagle of the family Accipitridae that is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has brown and white-coloured plumage, and a shaggy crest, and generally measures in length and weighs...
. They co-founded, in 2009, Song of the Bird King to focus on the preservation of Indigenous music and Ecology.
Susie Ibarra is recipient of the 2010 TED Fellowship “recognizing her as a young world-changer and trailblazer who has shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage.” She was also awarded a 2010 New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
The New York Foundation for the Arts was created in conjunction the in 1971. The organization gives grants to individual artists and writers and developing arts organizations with a mission to '.'-NYFA's Programs:...
fellowship for Music Composition and a 2008 Asian Cultural Council Rockefeller Fellow. Because of her research in Folkloric and Indigenous music in the Philippines with seven Indigenous tribes, Asia Society
Asia Society
The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
nominated her as a delegate of Asia 21 Young World Leaders Summit:“Unity Through Diversity” in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, 2010.
Mundo Niños
With husband and Cuban-Composer Roberto Juan Rodriguez, Ibarra co-founded Mundo Niños® LLC, a children's group that performs and teaches music in multi-languages to small children, grade-schoolers, and to underserved communities of disabled, Indigenous and orphaned children.Musical Works as Composer and Performer
In 2004, Ibarra recorded Folkloriko, a cycle of 11 pieces dedicated to a day in the life of a Filipino migrant worker. The work was premiered at the Freer Gallery of ArtFreer Gallery of Art
The Freer Gallery of Art joins the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to form the Smithsonian Institution's national museums of Asian art. The Freer contains art from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Islamic world, the ancient Near East, and ancient Egypt, as well as a significant collection of...
of the Smithsonian Institution in conjunction with the first Filipino photography exhibit by Ricardo Alvarado. Recorded on Tzadik Records
Tzadik Records
Tzadik Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by the eclectic composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995; Zorn is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases...
and performed by Jennifer Choi (violin), Craig Taborn (piano), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) and Ibarra (drums and percussion).
In 2006 Ibarra released, Dialects by Electric Kulintang on Plastic Records, a duo collaboration with Roberto Juan Rodriguez with compositions featuring electronics, kulintang gongs, percussion, drums and field recordings.
In 2007, American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New York City. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers...
commissioned Pintados Dream/The Painted’s Dream, a drum concerto with Ibarra soloing, a chamber orchestra and visual art by Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura
Makoto Fujimura is a 21st Century Contemporary Artist. He graduated with a B.A. from Bucknell University, then studied in a traditional Japanese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami...
which world premiered at Carnegie Zankel Hall in October of that year.
In February 2007 she composed for a commission by Ars Nova Workshop in Philadelphia, Kit: Music for Four Pianists, eight hand piano, in a evening work of Ibarra’s percussion music.
Also in 2007, her solo CD, Drum Sketches, was commissioned by The Brecht Forum
Brecht Forum
The Brecht Forum is an independent Marxist educational and cultural center in New York City, named after German writer Bertold Brecht. Throughout the year, the Forum offers a wide-ranging program of classes, public lectures and seminars, art exhibitions, performances, popular education workshops,...
and American Composers Forum
American Composers Forum
The American Composers Forum is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the promotion and assistance of American composers and their music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States...
on Innova Recordings. These solo pieces are performed and recorded by Ibarra on drum kit, sarunay and kulintang (Philippine xylophone and eight rowed gongs), also including field recordings. They are sonic sketches of Ibarra’s sound that include both traditional and avant-garde musical idioms.
In August 2008, MoMa Summergarden and Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. JALC's performing arts complex, Frederick P. Rose Hall, is located at West 60th Street and Broadway in New York City, slightly south of the main Lincoln Center campus and directly adjacent to Columbus Circle. Frederick P....
commissioned Ibarra for a premiere of Summer Fantasy and Folklore at the MoMa Summergarden. Ibarra premiered the suite inspired by summers in Houston, New York and Manila with the debut of her quartet featuring Jennifer Choi (violin), Kathleen Supove (piano), Bridget Kibbey (harp) and Susie Ibarra (drumset and percussion).
Also in 2008, Ibarra composed and recorded the music for video installation art, Madre Selva: Homage to Ana Mendieta, created by Visual Artist and Guggenheim Fellow, Juan Sanchez for his exhibition at Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
's Zoellner Arts Center
Zoellner Arts Center
Zoellner Arts Center is an arts center located on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It opened in 1997, and houses the following facilities:...
, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
. The art work is a tribute to the late Cuban American sculptor, installation and performance artist, Ana Mendieta
Ana Mendieta
Ana Mendieta was a Cuban American performance artist, sculptor, painter and video artist who is known for her "earth-body" art work....
.
In 2010 Music Theatre Group produced two residencies of Saturnalia a new music theatre work, composed by Ibarra, written by Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa
Yusef Komunyakaa is an American poet who currently teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for Neon Vernacular and the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. He also received the Ruth Lilly...
, directed by Daniel Fish and music directed by John diPinto. The new music work features 10 actor/singers, the Young Peoples Chorus of NYC, and a chamber ensemble. Saturnalia is a bicultural musical theatre work sung in English and Thai. The story is set in Thailand and portrays the illusion of Paradise that masks a psychological warfare in the minds of US soldiers, and business men and women enslaved in sex trafficking.
Upcoming Projects
Electric Kulintang will release and premiere a new work and recording, Drum Codes, on Earth Day April 21, 2011 at The Atrium in Lincoln Center.Ibarra will continue performing with her chamber jazz ensemble, Susie Ibarra Quartet, featuring Bridget Kibbey (harp), Kathleen Supove (piano), Jennifer Choi (violin) and Ibarra (drumset and percussion).
Ibarra will record and release in 2011, Mysteries of Nature, music for solo, duos and quartets with guest soloists.
Upcoming Song of the Bird King Projects
Song of the Bird King will incorporate into a non-profit in 2011, serving as an organization contributing to the cultural and environmental preservation of Indigenous music and ecology. The organization works towards global preservation with a focus on Asia/Pacific and Americas. In collaboration with Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders program, Song of the Bird King will lead a public service project in Indigenous music and culture for 2011-2012. This project will feature 3 compilations on Indigenous music and folkloric stories, peace songs from regions of conflict, and music by children. These compilations will benefit the eagle preservation center in Davao CityDavao City
The City of Davao is the largest city in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Its international airport and seaports are among the busiest cargo hubs in the Philippines....
, Philippines, the Peace Museum in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, and a children's foundation to help orphans in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
whose parents have died or are dying of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
.
Song of the Bird King will launch a new label, SOTBK, in 2011 to feature contemporary Indigenous music
Indigenous music
Indigenous music is a term for the traditional music of the indigenous peoples of the world, that is, the music of an "original" ethnic group that inhabits any geographic region alongside more recent immigrants who may be greater in number...
and public service compilation CDs.
A Song of the Bird King titled film, on the lives and stories of seven Indigenous Filipino tribes is a work in progress.