Concerts

Ben Neill: Trove

Please note that our building’s only elevator is still out of service, so the only way to access the Chapel is via a couple flights of stairs. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Mutantrumpet composer/performer Ben Neill will perform Trove, a series of richly textured ambient pieces based on Fibonacci structures that emanate entirely from his instrument’s acoustic timbral improvisations.

Composer/performer Ben Neill is the inventor of the Mutantrumpet, a futuristic, electro-acoustic instrument, and is recognized as a musical innovator who creates “art music for the people” (Wired Magazine). Neill blends ambient, minimalist, and improvised musical elements to create otherworldly sonic and visual experiences that blur the lines between acoustic instrumentation and digital media.

The Mutantrumpet was originally developed with synthesizer inventor Robert Moog and the STEIM research lab for new instruments in Amsterdam. Neill’s extensive discography includes releases on the Verve/Universal, Thirsty Ear, and Astralwerks/EMI labels, as well as Six Degrees Records, which released his album Prana Cantos on their Soundbalm series in May 2023. His long international performance history includes major festivals, concert halls, clubs, and museums such as BAM Next Wave Festival, Lincoln Center, Whitney Museum, Getty Museum, Big Ears Festival, Moogfest, Spoleto Festival, Umbria Jazz, Bang On A Can Festival, ICA London, Vienna Jazz Festival, Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University, Edinburgh Festival, Ambient Church, and many others. Neill has been a close associate of La Monte Young since the early 1980’s, leading many international performances of Young’s music. He has worked closely with other innovative musicians and artists including David Behrman, John Cage, John Cale, Rhys Chatham, Nicolas Collins, DJ Spooky, Mimi Goese, King Britt, Pauline Oliveros, and David Wojnarowicz. Since 2008 he has been a Professor of Music at Ramapo College of New Jersey.