Icebreaker | Artist

Icebreaker is a UK-based new music ensemble founded 1989 in London by James Poke and John Godfrey. The group have established themselves as one of the UK's leading new music interpreters specializing particularly in post-minimal and "totalist" repertoire. The group consists of 12 musicians, with an instrumentation that includes panpipes, saxophones, electric violin and cello, guitars, percussion, drums, accordion and keyboards as well as a sound engineer and production manager. This unusual instrumentation gives the band's music a distinctive sound and allows the blending of contemporary classical, rock and alternative music. Their repertoire encompasses music by a variety of well-known composers, including Louis Andriessen, Julia Wolfe, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Michael Gordon, Yannis Kyriakides, David Lang, Steve Martland, Michael Nyman and Steve Reich. Several major dance companies have used Icebreaker's music for performances, in addition the ensemble has engaged in multimedia works for film and installations. To-date they have released eight studio albums and one live recording, standouts include Trance, Rogue's Gallery, Music With Changing Parts, Metrum and the live performance of Brian Eno's Apollo. In describing their music, Christopher Lambton writing in The Guardian, described a 2003 concert as "loud and all-enveloping, offering an experience closer to a rock concert: Icebreaker... creates the blueprint for live contemporary music."

Artist Website: icebreaker.org.uk

Featured Albums: Icebreaker

Related Artists: Philip Glass, Brian Eno, Steve Reich

Video Clips: Trance, Nautilus, Apollo