Over the past 10 years, Ensemble Pamplemousse has created a unique and focused sound world. And like the grapefruit, it is juicy, sweet, tender and tart. Fortunately, they are not the only people living in that world. Being one of the few new music ensembles that writes its own music, Ensemble Pamplemousse has recently been fishing through the new music community looking for composers who reflect all the ideals Pamplemousse holds dearly – inspiration of an idiosyncratic idea, the dedication to carry that idea out to its end, and the audacity to playfully disregard any of that. BIRDS OF A FEATHER is a presentation of these composers discovered through their 2011 Call for Scores Campaign/Curation/Commission Project.

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We’ve posted some photos from last week’s final concert in the Old American Can Factory, featuring Talibam!, Jonathan Kane’s February, and Tony Conrad & MV Carbon. It was a surreal experience, with giant eyeball projections, minimalist blues, no-school rap, and an hour-long drone set (by which time most of us were sitting on the floor) to close out an amazing four years in our beloved Gowanus Can Factory.

But we’re looking ahead: this week, we’ve brought one of the top international contemporary music festivals to New York for the first time, in Gaudeamus Muziekweek New York. These artists straddle electronic, chamber, orchestral, and conceptual music with pieces involving everything from 100 metronomes (Gyorgy Ligeti’s “Poème Symphonique,” performed by Iktus Percussion) to Yannis Kyriakides’s audiovisual compositions, juxtaposing projections of text with music performed by his own Ensemble MAE with the International Contemporary Ensemble.

There’s still time left to become a member and receive two free tickets to any Gaudeamus Muziekweek New York concert, in addition to the usual two free tickets, discounts, and other thank-you gifts we’re offering toward membership. So don’t delay – check out the great benefits of a membership to ISSUE Project Room.

Photos from the final Can Factory concert are after the jump!

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