Contact performs the music of Allison Cameron
A Gossamer Bit celebrates the long-standing association between composer Allison Cameron and Toronto-based ensemble Contact. A kaleidoscopic fusion of elements as disparate as minimalism, avant-garde jazz, and Charles Ives, Cameron’s music is spacious, introspective, and utterly hypnotic. Each of these four compositions has been deftly realized, from the harmony-driven motor rhythms of 3rds, 4ths & 5ths, to the smoky, jazz-ballad atmosphere of D.I.Y. Fly, to violinist Sarah Fraser Raff’s passionate declamations on the title track. A Gossamer Bit is an immersive exploration of Cameron’s diverse output and a beautifully detailed representation of this vital collaboration.
Composer: Allison Cameron
Performers: Contact (Nicholai Bobas, double bass, voice; Mary-Katherine Finch, cello; Sarah Fraser Raff, violin; Wallace Halladay, soprano saxophone; Rob MacDonald, electric guitar, harmonica; Jerry Pergolesi, vibraphone, prepared vibraphone, drum kit, harmonica, voice; Allison Wiebe Benstead, piano, harmonica)
with Dean Kurtis-Pomeroy, percussion (2), toy piano (4) and Stephen Tam, piccolo (2) www.contactcontemporarymusic.org
Recorded at: 6 Nassau, Toronto. Recording Engineer: Jeff McMurrich
Produced and mixed by Jeff McMurrich, Allison Cameron and Jerry Pergolesi
Mastered by Fedge
Design: Digital Media Group
Photos: Allison Cameron
REVIEWS
Named one of The WIRE Magazine’s Top 50 releases of 2015
“a pleasing array of sounds”
“the music unfolds nearly effortlessly… highlighting the skill sets of composer and ensemble alike.” – Bryon Hayes –Decoder Magazine
“radiantly lovely”
“A Gossamer Bit celebrates the experimental tradition to which [Cameron] herself has made [a] significant addition.” – Julian Cowley – The WIRE Issue 378, August 2015
Recent Article on Allison Cameron in Musicworks
Recent Interview with Allison Cameron on the SOUNDLab New Music Podcast
TRACKS
1. 3rds, 4ths & 5ths
2. Gossamer Bit (Ives Hymn)
3. In Memoriam Robert Ashley
4. D.I.Y. Fly
A Gossamer Bit is available from:
This recording is made possible through funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario. This recording is made possible through the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.
TK445 © 2015 Redshift Music
Contact
Praised by the Globe and Mail as “thought-provoking” and “highly entertaining”, and by the New York Times as “mesmerizing” Contact is one of Canada’s leading interpreters of the music of our time. Contact has premiered works by emerging and established Canadian and international composers and has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and new music festivals.
Contact is dedicated to interdisciplinary collaborations, nurturing and facilitating the creation, production, presentation and engagement with new music in all contexts, forms and variations and creating outreach opportunities with Canada’s diverse communities in order to enrich people’s experience with sound. In addition to concerts, recordings and touring, Contact hosts Music From Scratch, a summer workshop for youth. www.contactcontemporarymusic.org
Allison Cameron
Allison Cameron (Photo by Claire Harvie, courtesy of Musicworks Magazine)
Allison Cameron is a composer of mostly chamber works that have been performed throughout Europe and North America; she is also active as an experimental performer.
Her works have been performed at numerous festivals, including Bang on a Can (New York), Emerging Voices (San Diego), Evenings of New Music(Bratislava), the Festival SuperMicMac (Montréal), the Newfoundland Sound Symposium, New Music across America, and the Rumori Dagen (Amsterdam) as well as several in Toronto.
Numerous ensembles have commissioned and/or performed her works, including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Contact Ensemble, Continuum, Les Coucous Bénévoles, Ergo, Ensemble Kore, the Ives Ensemble, the Maarten Altena Ensemble, Opera Aperta, Orkest de Volharding, the Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, the Vancouver New Music Ensemble, and the Veni Ensemble. Pianists Eve Egoyan and John Tilbury, electric guitarist Wiek Hijmans and bass clarinetist Ronda Rindone have also played her music.
She co-founded the Drystone Orchestra in 1989 and founded the Arcana Ensemble in 1992, both dedicated to the performance of experimental music in Toronto. During 2000-2005, she was the artistic director of Arraymusic where she created the Scratch! festival for experimental music. Allison is also a member of the Association of Improvising Musicians of Toronto (AIMT) and since 2000 has been performing on small amplified objects in collaboration with Eric Chenaux, Rob Clutton, Ryan Driver, Stephen Parkinson, Gert Jan Prins, Mike Hansen, David Sait, Mauro Savo, Ken Aldcroft, Joe Sorbara, Wilbert de Joode, and Doug Tielli among others. allisoncameron.com
Other CDs by Contact
Redshift Records 
