OUR ALBUMS
Christopher Stark:
Fire Ecologies
“A mere three years later, you can be dazzled in the comfort of your home, as Unheard-of//Ensemble has released a stunning recording of Stark’s piece, which has only become more shapely and propulsive in the ensuing revisions. Scene Four: Infernal Dance, which so impressed me in 2022, now sets a high bar for electro-acoustic music in 2025, with the band (Ford Fourqurean, clarinet/bass clarinet; Matheus Souza, violin; Iva Casian-Lakoš, cello; and Daniel Anastasio, piano/sampler) moving as one through Stark’s lethally elegant score.”
“The whole album is fantastic and a wonderful confirmation that what I heard alongside the lapping of the canal against my canoe, was an incredible work of art. While Fire Ecologies more than holds its own as pure music, the team has put together a thought-provoking video for Scene 2: Jeux d’Eau. You can also experience it on the Gowanus like I did in 2022, at the record release party on September 27th, canoe not required.”
– An Earful, Jeremy Shatan
“The blend of music and recordings begins its life in the haunting opening track. The subsequent pieces reflect tones that are whimsical, ominous and conclude with a sense of renewal.”
– Cultural Attaché, Craig Byrd
“The performance by Unheard-of//Ensemble, who debuted the piece, is immaculate.”
– Fanfare
Composer Christopher Stark teams up with the New York based Unheard-of//Ensemble for Fire Ecologies, an expansive paean to the natural world as it faces crisis. Premiered in an immersive performance on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, a superfund site that has been the focus of significant preservation efforts, Fire Ecologies has been presented in locations and contexts that underscore its mission to enhance climate awareness.
Christopher Stark’s six part Fire Ecologies is a musical homage to the global environment as it faces a perilous future. Written for and performed by New York based Unheard-of//Ensemble, the piece received its premiere in a unique setting, performed on a dock in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. Presenting Fire Ecologies in outdoor settings, and particularly in locations like the Gowanus that have critical needs with respect to cleanup of toxic materials and pollution, underscores the work’s intent to draw attention to the fragility of our natural landscapes and promote preservation efforts.
Unheard-of//Dialogues
Dialogues is the debut album by Unheard-of Ensemble. Featuring works by Christopher Stark, Erin Rogers, Michael Lanci, Reiko Füting, Tonia Ko, Nathan Hudson, and Nickitas Demos, the album traverses a range of sound worlds and compositional approaches. Stark’s Maple opens with lyrical fluidity and shimmering textures; Rogers’ Family Picnic 2008 blends humor and nostalgia through playful, collage-like gestures; and Lanci’s Coalescence Cascadebuilds dynamic energy through rhythmic layering. Füting’s procession-process: peace (dona nobis pacem) offers a meditative, spiritually charged counterpoint, while Ko’s Hum Phenomenon explores fragile resonance and microtonal color. Hudson’s Music for Falling / Flying evokes motion and transformation through intricate ensemble interplay, and Demos’ Frontlash concludes with bold, rhythmic drive. These premieres and project pushed Unheard-of to develop an expansive repertoire of over 200 premieres.
CCI//SESSIONS ALBUMS
Each year, Unheard-of collaborates with composers from across the United States to workshop and develop new premieres as part of their Collaborative Composition Initiative. At the end of each yearly workshop, we record and release and album recording featuring their work.
Gowanus Sound Paddle SerIES
Unheard-of, the Gowanus Dredgers, and composer/technologist Brian Ellis have developed a series of sound walks/paddles to experience the history and ecology of the Gowanus Canal at the listener’s own pace. The first sound paddle explores the history of the canal starting from the Dredgers Bunker Launch site at 19th street and charts the canal until 9th street. The 2nd Street sound paddle explores the upper reaches of the canal while sharing the environmental remediation of the superfund site, radio lab-style through interviews with Dredgers members.
