Biography
Ensemble Dal Niente, a Chicago-based collective, has actively promoted new compositions by teaming with prominent creators on fresh pieces while also partnering with fellow interpreters of recent music, resulting in an extensive recorded output.
Graduate composers at Northwestern University launched the group in 2005 in Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. Its Italian name, signifying “ensemble from nothing,” pays homage to Helmut Lachenmann’s Dal Niente (Interieur III). At maximum capacity the ensemble fields 27 players, who flexibly divide into configurations suited to large-scale works requiring 20 or more musicians, portrait concerts of five to 13 performers, intimate chamber programs with three to five players, and mixed-size projects that incorporate dancers and theatrical artists.
Recognition arrived steadily in the early years, culminating in a notable 2010 appearance at Germany’s Darmstädter Ferienkurse, an event the ensemble revisited on multiple occasions. Saxophonist Ryan Muncy recruited the players for his 2013 album Hot on New Focus, and cellist Chris Wild joined them the next year for the Navona disc Abhanden; further releases followed on both labels.
In addition to recurring appearances at major Chicago sites, often presented under the headings “Party” or “Hard Music, Hard Liquor,” the musicians have performed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., at Harvard University’s Fromm Concerts, and in Minnesota for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series. Tours have taken them through Latin America, with concerts in Colombia, Panama, and Mexico. Collaborative ventures have involved composers Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Chinary Ung, and Andile Khumalo, alongside a four-year partnership with the rock band Deerhoof. In 2023 the ensemble joined the JACK Quartet and other leading contemporary performers on the New Focus recording of Chris Fisher-Lochhead’s Wake Up the Dead.
Graduate composers at Northwestern University launched the group in 2005 in Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. Its Italian name, signifying “ensemble from nothing,” pays homage to Helmut Lachenmann’s Dal Niente (Interieur III). At maximum capacity the ensemble fields 27 players, who flexibly divide into configurations suited to large-scale works requiring 20 or more musicians, portrait concerts of five to 13 performers, intimate chamber programs with three to five players, and mixed-size projects that incorporate dancers and theatrical artists.
Recognition arrived steadily in the early years, culminating in a notable 2010 appearance at Germany’s Darmstädter Ferienkurse, an event the ensemble revisited on multiple occasions. Saxophonist Ryan Muncy recruited the players for his 2013 album Hot on New Focus, and cellist Chris Wild joined them the next year for the Navona disc Abhanden; further releases followed on both labels.
In addition to recurring appearances at major Chicago sites, often presented under the headings “Party” or “Hard Music, Hard Liquor,” the musicians have performed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., at Harvard University’s Fromm Concerts, and in Minnesota for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series. Tours have taken them through Latin America, with concerts in Colombia, Panama, and Mexico. Collaborative ventures have involved composers Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Chinary Ung, and Andile Khumalo, alongside a four-year partnership with the rock band Deerhoof. In 2023 the ensemble joined the JACK Quartet and other leading contemporary performers on the New Focus recording of Chris Fisher-Lochhead’s Wake Up the Dead.
Albums
