Sound and text. Food and drink. This intimate evening brings together Nmperign, the experimental improvisation duo of trumpeter Greg Kelley and soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey, a rare home-city appearance by pianist-composer Matt Mitchell, and writer-performer Corinna Burns reading from a new solo work. The night takes place at the Biello Martin Studio, a fanciful space full of operatic neo-classic crystal chandeliers, sensually cascading metallic beads of light, and whimsical clay light sculptures. Space is limited to 30 people. Light fare and drink are included with admission.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Founded in 1998, Nmperign is the experimental improvisation duo of trumpeter Greg Kelley and soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey. Noted for their musical shaping of “slow, sparse sounds– sounds that approach, and sometimes achieve, total silence”, Rainey and Kelley have collaborated with a wealth of fine musicians, most notably Jason Lescalleet, Axel Dorner, Andrea Neumann, and Jake Meginsky. Rainey, once a fixture of the Boston scene, now calls Philadelphia home, making this event both a homecoming and a reunion for Nmperign.

Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He has lived in Philadelphia since 1999 and performs regularly in New York City, throughout the United States and around the world. His album Fiction was released in 2013 on Pi Recordings; it features 15 of his compositions performed in duo with Ches Smith. Other ensembles he leads or co-leads include the Matt Mitchell Quartet with Chris Tordini, Dan Weiss and Chris Speed, the duo Fourth Floor with Dan Weiss, and Normal Remarkable Persons with Tim Berne, Herb Robertson, Travis Laplante and Tyshawn Sorey. He is a member of Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Project, the Darius Jones Quartet, Michael Attias’ Spun Tree, and Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux. He is a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.

Corinna Burns is a Philadelphia-based actress who has worked with many area companies. Recent credits include: Pay Up! and Isabella with Pig Iron Theatre Company, August: Osage County with the Arden Theatre, The English Bride with Theatre Exile, Phoenix with Flashpoint Theatre Company, and Little Gem, Pumpgirl, and Skin Deep with Inis Nua Theatre Company, to name a few. She’s a big fan of Bowerbird, for whom she read Samuel Beckett’s Not I a little while back.

ABOUT THE VENUE

The Biello Martin Studio is the creative sanctuary and gallery of interdisciplinary artist Michael Biello and composer/musician Dan Martin. Biello creates operatic neo-classic crystal chandeliers, sensually-cascading metallic beads of light, and whimsical clay light sculptures. Martin is an award-winning composer and music producer and, with Biello, has created critically acclaimed musical theatre and performance pieces.