Thank you so much for following our tour! Check out the Ghost Ensemble Facebook page to see pictures!
 
 Andrew C. Smith on KZSC:
 Ghost Ensemble composer Andrew Christopher Smith talked on KZSC about his work with Ghost Ensemble and our new album, We Who Walk Again! You can listen here: http://www.artistsonart.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/indexical.mp3
 
 Tour Day 4:
 We traveled to the California Central Coast and got settled in Paso Robles with our gracious host Ravi Kittappa of Permutations. Our show was at Lafondusac Winery and we had a full house and super-engaged crowd!
 
 Tour Day 5:
 Day 5 was our day off! We drove to Quail Lake, a magical oasis at the intersection of desert and mountains north of Valencia. Composer Wolfgang Von Schweinitz and artist Cecile Bouchier hosted us at their compound and served us a delicious feast. We enjoyed happy hour in the museum, which features much of Cecile's sculpture work. Cecile uses taxidermy techniques on dead animals that she finds on the compound and creates surreal new creatures ensconced in unexpected scenes in custom-lit terrariums. You can learn more about her work here: http://www.cecilebouchier.com/1.intro.htm
 
Wolfgang is a much-admired composer by many Ghost Ensemble members and he took the time to give us a mini-lecture about historical tunings. Beginning in August, our own band leader and accordionist Ben Richter will be living on the compound and beginning his DMA at CalArts, where Wolfgang is a professor. Wolfgang also took us on a hike around the compound and introduced us to the flora and fauna.
 https://www.facebook.com/ghostensemble/photos/pcb.1699947660093332/1699947466760018/?type=3&theater
 
 Tour Day 6:
 We drove to Los Angeles and played for a small but mighty audience at Basic Flowers. Basic Flowers is a quirky art space with an eerie aesthetic, so we fit right in!
 
 Now on to San Diego for our final show of the tour! 

Thank you so much for following our tour! Check out the Ghost Ensemble Facebook page to see pictures!

Tour Day 1:
We converged at the Center for New Music in downtown San Francisco and played our first show to a full house. The Center for New Music is an important space for the contemporary music community in the bay area and we also enjoyed playing the musical bench installations. After the show we packed up the vans and drove to Santa Cruz.

Tour Day 2: 
We had a full rehearsal day at UC Santa Cruz digging into Liisa Hirsch's delicate and magical piece Imprint (see above video for a clip). We also brushed up on the tricky rhythms in Andrew C. Smith's piece.We east-coasters aren't used to all the sun and nature we encountered in Santa Cruz...we're appreciating it! One of our host families is even raising adorable baby quails! 

Tour Day 3:
We loaded in to Wind River; a gorgeous musical venue and recording studio in the redwoods. During the day we made a recording of Teodora Stepancic's piece Harps N' Ropes No. 4. In this piece fishing line is suspended through the harp and, in the climax of the piece, pulled tight and bowed by the string players. The fishing line makes the harp strings vibrate and then our harpist Lucia changes the pedals, creating subtle harmonic shifts.

In the evening we played our concert to a sold-out house at Wind River and enjoyed fellowship with the many serious experimental music fans of Santa Cruz.

Today we're off to Paso Robles; more updates coming soon!

Sincerely,

Ghost Ensemble

Working with Ghost Ensemble came as an enormous relief – that working with a sizable ensemble in an experimental way was possible, without my having to convene that ensemble myself. I use the word experimental when I talk about music that takes the risk of not knowing what will happen before trying it. It is very unusual to find a group of working musicians who actively seek this out. Under capitalism, conditions make us so averse to this kind of risk. The other kind of risk Ghost takes that is so unusual these days is centering the experience of listening while playing, refusing not only to merely go through the motions with performative conviction, but to listen in a vulnerable way in performance, drawing the audience into what's at stake for each of us. For this we have to thank Pauline, and Ghost for bringing her practice into our work. My collaboration with Ghost was so meaningful, generative, and affirming. I hope this campaign will afford experiences as worthwhile and fulfilling as mine to other listeners, and other composers.

With deep gratitude,

Elizabeth Adams

These beautiful limited-edition letterpressed tour posters from Indexical are available as perks for our donors — check it out!

Harpist Lucia Stavros says, "I love playing in Ghost Ensemble. I always feel like I'm communicating on a high level with these performers ... that's something I think we really capture on our recording, and I'm so excited to share this music on the west coast with your support."
Ghost Ensemble is deeply grateful to those who have contributed to our campaign so far: Miya Masaoka, White Wave, Kristen Reed, Thomas Buckner, Helena Martin, Raymond Martin, Teodora Stepancic, Andrew Smith, and five anonymous donors.

Your generosity helps us create immersive musical experiences that explore the healing potential of community listening. Thanks so much for believing in our mission, and please continue to spread the word!