Cygnus Ensemble
The members are: Tara Helen O'Connor, flute; Robert Ingliss, oboe; William Anderson and Oren Fader, classical and electric guitars/mandolin/banjo; Calvin Wiersma, violin; Susannah Chapman, violoncello.
Cygnus has given a concert series in New York City since 1996. Concert tours include Russia, Holland, Denmark, Poland, Mexico, and the U.S. Recent honors include a Pulitzer Prize finalist (“Brion,” by Harold Meltzer, written for Cygnus), and a commissioning award from Chamber Music America (Akemi Naito’s “Mindscape; Four Poetic Images”. Cygnus is had two works featured on Art of the States, presently, Wuorinen's Sonata for Guitar and Piano--http://artofthestates.org
Recent highlights include a new chamber opera at the Guggenheim Museum, Works and Process series: Jonathan Dawe's “Prometheus”, the premiere performance and recording of Matthew Greenbaum’s “Nameless” (Cygnus, Momenta String Quartet and 3 singers), and performances and master classes at the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento, California. Cygnus has released two recordings of new music on the CRi, and Bridge labels. Upcoming: Mario Davidovsky's latest work, Ladino Songs--February 26 at Bargemusic.
Dedicated to helping the next generation of composers, Cygnus is in residence at Sarah Lawrence College, and at the City University of New York's Graduate Center. In 2005 Cygnus expanded its Sarah Lawrence residency through the Chamber Music America residency program.




