2013: Opera Wolf

Crystal Pascucci: cello
Joshua Marshall: tenor saxophone
Robert Lopez: drums

Opera Wolf is a trio of musicians performing free improvisation and improvised-based works. The cello/sax/percussion ensemble performs graphic scores, text-based scores, partially-notated pieces, and conducted works. Drawing on influences from contemporary classical music, free jazz, and electro-acoustic experimentation, they work with atmospheric timbres, modulating rhythms and extended technique to mold sound in a way that challenges compositional organization and performance practice. Influences range from John Zorn to Edgard Varèse, and include Debussy and Sun Ra.

Crystal Pascucci has recently relocated to the Bay Area from Hartford, Conn. A classically-trained musician, she has been concentrating on the art of free improvisation, composition of graphic scores, and chamber music for the past two years. As a cellist, she explores non-traditional playing techniques in an effort to develop musical ideas beyond pitch and rhythm. In Connecticut, her work has been featured at the Uncertainly Series in New Haven and the New Music Cabaret and the Hartford Phase Shift music series in Hartford. Notable teachers include Joan Jeanrenaud, Robert Black, Anthony Braxton, and Marion Feldman.

Joshua Marshall is a performer, composer, and improviser living in Oakland, Calif. His work involves abstract narrativity in musical form, systematic extensions of improvisatory practice, advanced studies in saxophone technique, and interactive performance with digital media. He has studied with Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, Evan Parker, Zeena Parkins, Butch Rovan, I.M. Harjito, and Steve Adams of the ROVA Saxophone Quartet. In addition to performing solo saxophone sets, Joshua has played with Opera Wolf, Ikue Mori, Poles of Interest, the Andrew Weathers Ensemble, Modest Machine, and MDK. His playing has been featured at festivals and conferences nationwide, including Providence Pixilerations events and the 2010 International Computer Music Conference. Joshua graduated from Brown University, earning a B.A. through the nationally renowned MEME program, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Music at Mills College.

Robert Lopez is a percussionist trying to make sense of being wrapped up in a world of performing and studying several types of music. Although he has been surrounded by music his entire life, he became serious about it when he began studying with drummer and composer Steve Moshier. Continuous studies with the percussion faculty of Cal State Long Beach led to recitals and concerts with various wind ensembles, the university orchestra, jazz combos, traditional music of Trinidad, Brazil, Cuba, and Ghana, as well as exploring the canon of 20th and 21st century music. Ventures into the music community of Long Beach led to collaborations with Wild Pack of Canaries, New Lights by Dead Vines, Homesteader, Jesse Carzello (a.k.a. Bobby Blunders), and The Vespertines. Currently, he’s studying percussion at Mills College with William Winant and improvisation with Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, and Zeena Parkins. He performs regularly with the Willie Winant Percussion Group and Jordan Glenn’s Mindless Thing, and is active in the Bay Area improv scene.

Artist (photo by Photographer)