ICP Orchestra

Ars Nova Workshop is thrilled to welcome the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra back to Philadelphia for the first time since 2011, when we presented the legendary Dutch ensemble for three consecutive nights.

“If you can imagine a piece of music as an object that can be picked up and looked at from many angles and maybe even turned inside out,” writes MTV.com, “you can begin to understand the ICP Orchestra's approach to making and treating music.”

Instant Composers Pool (ICP) is a collective of Dutch composers and improvisers (and instant composers) that was formed in 1967 by Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Willem Breuker. The corresponding artist-run ICP Records has released over 40 albums, and is the longest running label of its kind. (The label recently announced an ICP retrospective box set release, the ICP Box, which will include 52 CDs, a photobook and original artwork by Bennink, whose work adorns many past ICP releases.)

Over the years, the always-evolving ICP Orchestra has collaborated with giants of the experimental music world, such as Derek Bailey, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Anthony Braxton, John Tchicai and Alan Silva. The current line-up for the ICP Orchestra consists of nine of the most innovative voices from around the globe, including co-founder and drummer Bennink, the saxophonists/clarinetists Michael Moore and Ab Baars, and the trombonist Wolter Wierbos. (ICP co-founder Mengelberg will not be performing tonight.) From ragtime to swing, bop to free jazz, classical to carnival, the ICP Orchestra continues to be at the forefront of the creative music scene they helped create over four decades ago.