208 ensemble is proud to introduce Avant-Garden, our flagship project designed to commission chamber music from emerging composers and cultivate a collaborative environment for the performance of contemporary art.

Avant-Garden is a festival-within-a-festival curated by 208 ensemble. The show will take place Sunday, March 24 at Boise Contemporary Theater. Individual tickets will be available starting March 1.

(4:00) Paper Gates (Portland OR) \\\ "The best descriptions I've heard don't actually mention what I'm doing or what it sounds like. I've heard ‘transcendent,’ ‘hypnotic,’ ‘astral,’ and ‘vibe.’ A hippie lady told me I was opening wormholes with my music once, which makes me sound cool but also kind of dangerous.”

(5:00) Project Flux Dance (Boise ID) /// https://www.projectfluxdance.org/
Since its inception in 2013, Project Flux has established a strong following amongst Boise audiences and the Treasure Valley dance community, presenting works that fuse intricate gestural movement with classical technique and improvised play. Featuring the debut of their new work "Hello My Name Is".

(6:30) Nick Zoulek, Saxophonist (Bowling Green, OH) \\\ www.nickzoulek.com
The Wall Street Journal writes, “...Mr. Zoulek’s performance, on saxophones in every range, is stunningly virtuosic, whatever the genre… None of that would matter much (except to saxophonists) if Mr. Zoulek were a less imaginative composer.” His influence on the fields of contemporary music and avant-garde performance has added color, energy, and light to the enigmatic world of the saxophone.

An artist of “pure mindfulness and talent” (PopMatters), Nick’s craft has taken his Midwestern roots across France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Serbia, India, Italy, Uganda, and the United States. He remains equally engaged in solo performance, multimedia collaboration, improvisation, and commissioning new works. Nick’s unique abilities on the horn have been lauded as “a no-holds-barred engine of avant-garde exploration,” (Portland Press Herald) with the capacity to “[take] you to other worlds.” (Milwaukee Magazine)

(8:00) 208 ensemble (Boise ID) /// www.208ensemble.com

208 ensemble is a multi-instrumental ensemble specializing in the performance of innovative chamber music. Based in Boise, Idaho, 208 ensemble strives to engage diverse communities through the advocacy of music by living composers, the pursuit of distinctive collaboration, and the exploration of dynamic performance aesthetic.

208 ensemble plays an extended set during Treefort Music Fest 2019, including chamber music by Gabriella Smith, Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw and Andy Akiho. A raucous rendition of Julius Eastman's "Stay On It" will feature a collaborative performance with 208 ensemble, Nick Zoulek, Leta Harris Neustaedter, and others.