Founded in 2003, Atlanta-based Bent Frequency (BF) brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. One of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players.
BF has partnered with internationally acclaimed ensembles, dance groups, and visual artists in creating unique productions ranging from traditional concerts to fully staged operatic works, to concerts on the ATL streetcar, to a band of 111 bicycle-mounted, community performers. BF’s programming, educational outreach, and community events aim to be inclusive of the diverse and dynamic communities they are a part of.
As Co-Artistic Directors of Bent Frequency, percussionist Stuart Gerber and saxophonist Jan Berry Baker are The BF Duo Project. Stuart and Jan have commissioned over 30 new works for their duo since 2013 and have given countless performances across the United States, Mexico, and Europe. They have been guest ensemble in residence at the MATA Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, Sam Houston State University in Texas, Tage aktueller musik festival in Nuremberg, Germany, Charlotte New Music Festival, The University of Georgia, and New Music on the Point. Their debut CD, Diamorpha, is available on the Centaur Label.
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Canadian American saxophonist, Jan Berry Baker, has performed as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician on many of the world’s great stages. An advocate of cross-disciplinary collaborations, socially conscious programming, and community engagement, she is Co-Artistic Director of contemporary chamber ensemble, Bent Frequency. She and percussionist Stuart Gerber are The Bent Frequency Duo Project and together have commissioned over 30 new works for saxophone and percussion. They have given countless performances of these news works at artist residencies, international festivals, and schools of music across the US, Mexico, Germany, and France.
Jan regularly performs with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Opera and has appeared with the Chicago and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Jan’s recording projects include chamber music albums on the Centaur and Albany labels, as well as American Orchestral Works with the Grant Park Orchestra and Atlanta Opera’s world premiere recording of The Golden Ticket.
As an educator, Jan is Associate Professor of Saxophone, Woodwind Area Head and Vice Chair of the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. Highly sought after as a masterclass teacher and speaker, she has given presentations on contemporary music, nonprofits and grant writing, community engagement, socially conscious programming, career development and mentoring. Jan is a founding member of the Committee on the Status of Women in the North American Saxophone Alliance and is the leader of the CSW Women+’s Mentoring Program. She earned a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University and is a Selmer Paris and Vandoren performing artist.
Lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by The New York Times, percussionist Stuart Gerber has performed extensively throughout the North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Recent engagements include: The Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video, and Music Festival, the Montreal New Music Festival, Electronic Music Malta Festival, The Eduardo MATA Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico, the KLANG Festival at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Cervantino Festival in Gunajuato, Mexico, the Now Festival in Tallinn, Estonia, the Chihuahua International Music Festival in Mexico, the Gulbenkian Center in Lisbon, Portugal, the South Bank Centre in London, the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin, Germany, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia, the Spoleto Festival, and the Savannah Music Festival.
As an active performer of new works, Stuart has recorded for Centaur, Innova, UR-text, Aucourant, Bridge, Capstone, Code Blue, Mode, Albany, Telarc and Vienna Modern Masters labels. He is currently an artist-faculty at the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) held annually at the New England Conservatory, and has taught at New Music on the Point, the Charlotte New Music Festival, and the Stockhausen-Kurse in Germany, and has given masterclasses at many esteemed institutions in the US and abroad (including the Curtis Institute, Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, and The Southbank Center).
Stuart studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Hochshule für Musik in Hannover, Germany. He is Professor of Music at Georgia State University and co-artistic director of the Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency.