Artists
Impulse presents the 2010 Alter Ego Season: Celebrating the Versatility of the Modern-Day Concert Artist
The 2010 artists represent the multi-talented, wondrously versatile artist of tomorrow – today. This season features artists who are leading double artistic lives. They’ve won accolades on the world stage in the field of classical music and they are simultaneously moonlighting successfully in nightclubs, playing in rock bands and working with world-renown artists of other genres. In addition to the solo recitals at Wade Wilson Art, the 2010 Impulse Artists will also be featured in the hottest local nightclubs.
To learn about each artist, click on their picture below.
Concert Pianist | Jazz and Rock Artist |Composer | Featured Houston-based Artist
KRIS BECKER is undefinable. His fervent expressions through original rock, jazz, and nu-classical works flow from the eclecticism that colors his own personhood, while his continuing dedication to excellence as a multi-genre keyboardist makes him a unique interpreter of music. He is a serious classical pianist who has played Carnegie Hall and he is a touring rock keyboardist who hauls his own gear into the grassroots clubs of America. He grew up for eighteen years in a rural Northern town of 2,000 then became citizen of a Southern metropolis of millions. He has spent summers working for the family horse business and … (read more)
Pianist | Toy Pianist| Multimedia Artist
PHYLLIS CHEN’s artistic pursuits take her in numerous directions as a toy pianist, pianist, composer and performance artist. Named a New Music/New Places Fellow at the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Ms. Chen creates original multi-media compositions, often in collaboration with video artist Rob Deitz, using toy pianos, music boxes, electronics and video, and she offers these works in concert alongside those by prominent 20th century composers such as John Cage and Julia Wolfe.The Chicago Reader confirms Phyllis Chen’s status as a trailblazer commenting: “…she’s become one of the world’s leading proponents of the toy piano… (read more)
Trumpet
SURESH SINGARATNAM is a trumpeter of uncommon breadth – unique not only for the small crowd he inhabits as a virtuoso of both classical and jazz styles but also for the continuity and clarity of his voice across both idioms. When he began to study the trumpet at age nine, it never occurred to him that he might have to choose between the two.Torontonian by way of Zambia (where he was born) and the U.K., Singaratnam boasts a background that defies classification as nimbly as his artistic taste. In eighth grade he asked a music teacher if she knew of anyone who played both jazz and classical trumpet at a high level and she steered him to Wynton Marsalis, two of whose records he promptly went out and bought…(read more)
Harp
A versatile musician who has been proven to defy genres and labels, BRANDEE YOUNGER has created a unique niche in both traditional and non-traditional harp arenas. Best-known for her limitless drive, Ms. Younger remains in high demand and attracts the attention of today’s most well-known artists, producers and ensembles. A classically trained harpist, she has performed with an array of orchestras including the Eastern Connecticut Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, Soulful Symphony, Ensemble Du Monde, Camerata New York and the Red Bull Artsehcro, a “non-conformist” orchestra…(read more)
