2008: (The) Giants of Gender

performing works by Kyle Farrell, Adam Lahm, Sundar Subramanian, and Zachary Zukowski

The unique instrumentation and approach of (The) Giants of Gender have attracted the attention of several composers.

(The) Giants of Gender are an improvisational trio that formed in 2006 in Youngstown, Ohio. Through the use of improvisation in an open-ended format, the members of the group have allowed themselves to explore latent sounds within each of their instruments, thus producing a diverse amalgamation of both characteristic and non-idiomatic sounds. While maintaining a focus on improvisation, the group also incorporates original composed material. The instrumentation consists of Andy Meyer on woodwinds, Kyle Farrell on vibraphone and percussion, and Jenna Barvitski on violin and viola. The trio has toured nationally and has performed most often in the Cleveland and Columbus areas. They previously curated a concert series in Youngstown at the McDonough Museum of Art that featured artists such as Ryan Jewell, James Ilgenfritz, Thollem McDonas, Larry Marotta, Ben Bennett, Madame P, Jack Wright, and Michael Johnsen. The group collaborated with choreographer Kathleen Larrick on a work for music and dance that was premiered at Tulsa’s New Genre Festival XV in March 2008. They were featured at the Second Annual Conference of the International Society for Improvised Music (ISIM) and were selected to appear on ISIM’s compilation album (2007). Their most recent album was released by Edgetone Records.

Artist (photo by Photographer)