New music clarinetist/ bass clarinetist, composer, & improviser
Mara Mayer is a clarinetist/bass clarinetist, composer, and improviser based in NYC & Michigan. Mara’s compositions explore the juncture of science and intuition, and the boundaries between electronics and acoustic sound. As a composer, Mara has recently written works for Syntax New Music, the Creative Arts Orchestra at the University of Michigan, and Soft Knee Collective.
As a performer, Mara has worked with a wide range of ensembles from classical music to free improvisation including with Soft Knee Collective (of which they are Director and Clarinetist), Syntax New Music, The Curiosity Cabinet, Nouveau Classical Project, The Great Comet on Broadway, Corvus New Music Ensemble in residence for Composing in the Wilderness at Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, CACEnsemble, Contemporaneous, Ensemble Ipse, Banda de los Muertos, GABI, Ziemba, Slüthaven, and more.
Artist residencies and festivals include Bang on a Can, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Calefax Reed Quintet Festival, Summit Music & Arts, School for Improvisational Music, and Earthdance E|Merge.
They are the Project Manager for NoRepeats.org, a database highlighting the work of underrepresented composers through the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and founder of Home Audio Series, an interdisciplinary experimental salon concert series.
Mara holds a BS degree in Brain & Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester and a BM degree from the Eastman School of Music in Clarinet Performance. They are currently earning dual MM degrees in Chamber Music & Clarinet Performance at the University of Michigan School of Music Theater & Dance.
Photo by Whitney George
Recordings featuring Mara
Currents
by the Nouveau Classical Project
Synesthesia
Dapple Grey
Empty Me
by GABI
Ardis
by Ziemba
Rest in Fleas
by cloud becomes your hand
Woman with a Suitcase
by Little Band of Sailors
The End of Greatness
by Gregory Pfeiffer, bass clarinet solo piece
Anamnesis
by Whitney George, for the Curiosity Cabinet
Clarinet Quintet
by W.A. Mozart