Roomful of Teeth Performs at Principia
Principia’s Concert and Lecture Series presented the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth last week in Davis Music Hall. Founded and directed by alum Brad Wells (C’84), Roomful of Teeth won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance in 2014.
Dedicated to re-imagining singing in the 21st century, the eight-voice, avant-garde group draws from classical and non-classical traditions and combines them with Western classical (bel canto) techniques. “We take a sort of ‘mixed martial arts approach’ to working with the human voice,” Wells explains. “Many choirs are singing music from cultures around the world. We’re expanding upon this idea by making full use of every singing style to create new work.” The group has toured the United States, performing in major concert venues, including Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Roomful of Teeth members study with the world’s top performers and teachers of non-classical traditions, and the group has collaborated with a variety of composers, including Judd Greenstein, William Brittelle, John Luther Adams, Terry Riley, and 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe. In March, they performed “Drone Mass,” a world premiere by the Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, whose score for the film The Theory of Everything was nominated for an Academy Award. For this concert, the group appeared with members of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Metropolitan Museum’s Temple of Dendur in New York.
The ensemble’s highly acclaimed self-titled debut album, Roomful of Teeth, released in 2012 by New Amsterdam Records, topped the classical charts on iTunes and Amazon and broke into the top ten on the Billboard charts. In April, they released their sophomore album, Render, described by The Nation as “the most rigorously venturesome and thrillingly inventive music made by any ensemble, vocal or instrumental, today.”
“To have a high profile musical group such as Roomful of Teeth performing at Principia College was quite a treat for our students and the community,” says Music Department chair Dr. Joseph Van Riper.“ And it makes us especially proud that the group is led by one of our alums.”
Wells expressed appreciation for returning to Principia to perform in the very hall where he gave his senior recital. “The idea for this type of project began during my student days as a music major at Principia,” he says. “In particular, my music theory professor, Eliot Glaser (US’74), encouraged me to explore and write music with a very open approach. And Bob (C’53) and Sara Rockabrand gave me a firm foundation in classical singing and choral music. Close relationships with faculty—both in and out of the classroom—provided a rich and powerful learning environment.”
Listen to the concert in downloadable programs on Principia Internet Radio.