jeffrey-agrell@uiowa.edu

Tickets $17 for general audiences, $14 for students, children over age 12, IA Course participants & seniors 60+.  Children age 12 and under: free.  Tickets available by calling 641-472-7634.

Cerberus’s unique approach offers an attractive and enjoyable concert experience for all kinds of audiences, and complements and contrasts with traditional chamber music offerings. Cerberus is equally at home in evening concerts, matinees, youth concerts, informal setting concerts. Cerberus often performs as a 4-person trio with a Soundpainting conductor, but often appears with other virtuoso improvisers, such as with poet David Hulm, whose delightful tongue-in-cheek poetry adds another dimension to concerts (he can also invent poems on the spot, from audience suggestions). Through the magic of Soundpainting, audiences are no longer merely passive ‘consumers’ at a concert – they have the possibility of being active participants in compositions that take shape before their very eyes and ears. In any case, an unforgettable concert experience for all is assured.

The Players

Cerberus boasts a combined total 70+ years of national and international professional experience in a huge range of styles (classical, jazz, ethnic, chamber music, opera, musicals, and more).

John Manning teaches tuba at The University of Iowa and is a founding member of the world-renowned Atlantic Brass Quintet. He has served as principal tubist with the Albany Symphony (NY), the Vermont Symphony, and the Air Force Band of the Golden Gate. He has taught and performed worldwide, including at the White House and Carnegie Hall. Outside of classical music, his eclectic musical activities range from klezmer and world music to rock and jazz. He recently recorded his debut CD entitled “Four Corners: Tuba Music from around the World” for Summit Records.

Jeffrey Agrell has taught horn at The University of Iowa since 2000 after a long career as a symphony musician. He has won awards as both a writer and composer. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society and is on the faculty of the prestigious Kendall Betts Horn Camp. He teaches a course in improvisation for classical musicians, and frequently gives concerts and workshops in improvisation around the country. Recent recordings featuring contemporary classical improvisation include “Repercussions” and “Mosaic” with Duende (horn, cello, piano). He is the author of Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians (GIA Publications).

Brent Sandy is adjunct professor in Jazz Studies Department of The University of Iowa and Grinnell College. He is a lead jazz trumpet and flugelhorn performer who is a member of the OddBar Trio, Orquesta Alto Maiz, and Chris Merz’s Equilateral. Sandy has performed and/or recorded with numerous jazz notables, including Paul Smoker, John Carlson, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Paul McKee, Bobby Shew, Steve Turre, and Dick Oatts. Brent is an educational specialist with United Musical Instruments and a Conn Vintage One Trumpet and Flugelhorn Artist. Mr. Sandy is also a member of the executive board of the Iowa City Jazz Festival.

Cerberus may perform with one or more of the following artists:

Walter Thompson—composer, conductor, jazz woodwind and percussion performer, educator—has conducted Soundpaintings with contemporary orchestras in many cities around the world including Barcelona, Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Bergen, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik, and has taught Soundpainting at many major universities in the US and Europe. He is the founder of The Walter Thompson Orchestra in New York City.

New York-based Evan Mazunik has performed with such distinguished musicians as Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Robin Eubanks, and Robert Paredes. His duos with cellist HYPERLINK "http://www.evanmazunik.com/music-group-10.html"Gil Selinger and with hornist Jeffrey Agrell explore the emerging world of classical improvisation. He is associate conductor of the New York Soundpainting Orchestra and plays keyboards for the Walter Thompson Orchestra. As a composer, Mazunik scored the documentary The Checker King, which aired on HBO2 and received critical acclaim at the DOCtober Film Fest in Santa Monica, CA. His commissions have included works for jazz band, chorus, flute, marimba, and alto saxophone.

David Hulm’s delightful tongue-in-cheek poetry adds another dimension to Cerberus concerts (and he also invents poems on the spot from audience suggestions). He has a MFA from the Iowa Writer's Workshop and MA in African American World Studies, both from The University of Iowa. Currently, he teaches English full-time at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City. Hulm is a published freelance writer: prose, public relations, poetry, and nonfiction.

Steve Grismore has been an active jazz guitarist for over three decades. He has performed at various clubs and jazz festivals all over the U.S. with nationally-recognized jazz artists including Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Tatsu Aoki, Charlie Haden, Bobby Shew, Vinny Golia, Robert Dick, Paul Scea, and many more. He is currently with the Steve Grismore Trio, the Oddbar Quartet, Gizmofunk, Orquesta de Jazz y Salsa Alto Maiz and the University of Iowa Jazz
Faculty Ensemble. He is co-founder and Music Director of the nationally acclaimed Iowa City Jazz Festival.

Jennifer Kayle is a professional dancer specializing in improvisational dance. She started out as a gymnast and diver before earning degrees from Middlebury College in dance and sociology, and an MFA from Smith College. She has appeared at many dance festivals, and her choreographies have appeared in Gala Concerts regionally and nationally, and have received many commissions and grants. Jennifer is a founding member of The Architects, a collaborative improvisational movement theatre company (HYPERLINK "http://www.architectsdance.org/"www.architectsdance.org) and is currently a professor of dance at the University of Iowa.

Flutist Lisa Bost is also a composer and improviser who performs and teaches both classical and improvised music throughout Iowa. Bost received her undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa and a masters degree from New York University, studying with famed improviser Robert Dick. She was a freelancer in the New York area during her time there and is currently on the faculty of Clarke College in Dubuque.

CD

Cerberus’s new CD is Side Show Tim (Dane Records), featuring Walter Thompson as Soundpainting conductor and the poems of David Hulm.

For further information, contact Jeffrey Agrell

HYPERLINK "mailto:jeffrey.agrell@gmail.com" jeffrey.agrell@gmail.com. Ph.: (319) 338-7733

    PROGRAM

Cerberus is like no other chamber music experience you’ve ever seen or heard. Every concert is unique as the players create the lion’s share of the program on the spot. The result is high-energy, sometimes humorous, always quirky and delightful music that sizzles the airwaves with audacious, toe-tapping tunes. The audience - to its surprise - is also asked to take part in several pieces and invariably does so with glee and gusto. Expect the unexpected with Cerberus! Who knew that contemporary music could be this much fun?

Brent Sandy, Trumpet

Jeffrey Agrell, Horn

John Manning, Tuba

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