Roomful of Teeth

The Williams College Department of Music presents the Grammy-winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth on Friday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. in Thompson Memorial Chapel on the Williams College campus. The group will present a master class along with Williams music students on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 4:15 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.

This performance features the combined voices of Roomful of Teeth and the Williams Concert Choir. They present the world premiere of William Brittelle’s Psychedelics. Students of the Williams Concert Choir have been working with Roomful of Teeth to perfect vocal techniques from around the world, including yodeling, belting, and Tuvan throat singing. William Brittelle’s cutting-edge work makes this performance truly unique, and is the first time Roomful of Teeth has had the opportunity to collaborate with another choir in this way.

Roomful of Teeth also performs Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Partita. This is the first time this piece will be performed in its four-movement format in the Berkshires. Other featured composers include Brad Wells, Eric Dudley, and Williams alumnus Judd Greenstein, Class of 2001.

Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, Roomful of Teeth is a vocal project dedicated to mining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from non-classical traditions the world over, the eight voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques and, through an on-going commissioning project, invites today’s brightest composers to create a repertoire without borders. Following Roomful of Teeth’s performance at the 2014 Grammy Pre-Telecast Awards Ceremony, Rolling Stone declared it “one of the best musical moments” of the evening. RantChic also included the performance in their “20 Best Moments from The Grammys.”

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Event Program