Vox Arcana

Vox Arcana is a new music trio organized by percussionist Tim Daisy, and includes two mainstays from the Chicago improvised music scene: James Falzone on clarinet and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and electronics. The tightly structured compositions are written for the purpose of investigating the dynamic between thematic material and open improvisation, and how these elements can affect the overall shape and character of each composition.

The general conception behind the music is the confluence of contemporary musical techniques with the freedom and flexibility of an improvising ensemble.

The compositions are inspired by various schools of experimental music, these include: the wave of composers working in New York in the 1950’s and beyond led by John Cage, Earl Brown, and Morton Feldman , each of which helped redefine the avant-garde with their radical philosophies and non-traditional instruments, two of the pioneers of minimalism, including Lamonte Young ,(primarily for his static approach to time as people then knew it, his time capsule like philosophy, not waiting for the next thing to happen but enjoying what is happening in the present), and Terry Riley for his philosophy of repetition as a musical structure. In addition some of the innovators from Chicago’s AACM including violinist/violist Leroy Jenkins , multi-reed player Anthony Braxton, and pianist,composer Muhal Richard Abrams.

Added to these musical influences, inspiration must be attributed to many visual artists who have helped shape some of the composing techniques used in the ensemble. Some of the primary visual art influences include: the Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely best known for his kinetic sculptural machines, American painter Robert Rauschenberg particuliary for his “combine” paintings…using non traditional materials in innovative combinations, as well as some of the “Color field” painters, including Robert Motherwell and Clyfford Styll—the movement placed lass emphasis on getsure,brushstrokes, and action in favor of an overall consistency of form and process."