The annual New Ear Festival is happening this upcoming week at Fridman Gallery, 287 Spring St., New York City (February 2 through February 8). I’m very excited to be attending the Saturday night performance for a set of ambient and experimental music by Stephen Vitiello and Taylor Deupree. The entire festival looks amazing and I’ll be sure to report back soon following Saturday’s performance.
For the past few years, Deupree’s 12K Records has been my go to source for really incredible ambient music. Besides the fabulous roster of artists that 12k actively releases, Deupree’s own collaborative works have been truly inspiring for me, particularly Twine (with Marcus Fischer) and Wood, Winter, Hollow (with Seaworthy).
Stephen Vitiello is an electronic musician and media artist. He’s also currently a professor of Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. I’m not familiar with Vitiello’s solo work but he and Deupree and collaborated on a couple notable releases on 12k Records, particularly Captiva in 2014.