Mappa Mundi features two extraordinary new works—Les Blindes by American composer J.P. Dreblow, and Earth by the Afro-Swiss composer Jessie Cox. Drawing on such diverse inspiration as Renaissance masses, baroque dance suites, progressive rock, and the groundbreaking bassoon works of Sofia Gubaidulina, Les Blindes fuses historical references with modern techniques, including microtones, multiphonics, flutter tonguing, and improvisation to create a striking and utterly original work. Earth makes equally dramatic use of the bassoon's unique spectral, timbral, and articulation possibilities in an evocative depiction of the life—and death—that are drawn from our planet. Also on the program are works by Sofia Gubaidulina, Dan Becker, Julius Eastman, and others.
Tuple—Rachael Elliott and Lynn Hileman—has performed across the eastern US at experimental art and music venues including The Stone (NYC), Eyedrum (Atlanta), The Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination (Pittsburgh, PA), Flood Fine Arts Center (Asheville, NC), and A|V (Rochester, NY). They have also presented performances and masterclasses at Yale University, the University of Michigan, UCLA, Northwestern University, University of Vermont, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and are on the faculty of the University of Michigan's NewBassoon Institute. Rachael and Lynn are also founding members of contemporary bassoon collectives Dark in the Song (called a "bassoon supergroup" by the American Music Center) and The Rushes Ensemble, dedicated to performing Michael Gordon's Rushes for 7 bassoons. Tuple's debut album, Darker Things, was released by Bright Shiny Things in 2019.