Als Eco is a contemporary music ensemble created by Adriana Vásquez, Eduardo Caicedo, and Antonio Correa in 2006. Since then, the number of performers has grown gradually. Als Eco's performers come from different musical backgrounds: some are classically trained, some come from popular music , some are composers turned composers (or performers turned composers,) some have great interest in improvised music....
The ensemble's main concern is to perform music that does not make reference to the unbreakable barrier between the composer and its audience that so many recent compositions have managed to build. Als Eco believes in a purely sensual engagmenet with sound. This point of view opens huge possibilities in terms of repertoire and the curating of programs.
Als Eco has premiered in Colombia Simeon ten Holt's Canto Ostinato, Lemniscaat, and Incantatie IV, Louis Andriessen's Workers Union, Philip Glass's 1+1, Two Pages, Music in Contrary Motion, and Music in Similar Motion, Michael Gordon's XY, Jacob TV 's Off and On Situation Blues, David Lang's Sweet Air, and Marc Mellits', Disciples of Gouda, Prime, Tom, Tight Sweater and selections from his Paranoid Cheese, Evan Ziporyn's Where was I?, and works by the Wandelweiser composers collective.
Als Eco has collaborated both with local as well as international artists such as "REC" video art collective, Jeroen van Veen (The Netherlands), pianist and president of the Simeon ten Holt Foundation, the Swiss improvisation band "Grand Reportage Ensemble" and American composer Marc Mellits.
It's first CD: "Philip Glass: Primeros Clásicos", which showcases the early works of American composer Philip Glass, was the first of its kind ever to be recorded and produced in Colombia. Upcoming recording projects include an album devoted to Terry Riley's In C and Keyboard Studies 1 and 2, as well as a compilation of works by the Wandelweiser composer collective.
Als Eco is:
Carlos Añez: flute
Yesid Fonseca: clarinet
Pablo Muñoz Barragán: saxophones
Natalia Bustamante: saxophones
Juan Francisco Contreras: saxophones
Natalia Martínez Medina: voice
Adriana Poveda: violin
Osiris Lobo: cello
Julián Sarmiento: double bass
Nicolás Ramírez: electric guitar
Daniela Sicilia: piano
Daniel Muñoz Barragán: piano/synthesizers
Antonio Correa: piano/synthesizers
Eduardo Caicedo: percussion
Diego Franco: sound engineer, electronics
Frequent collaborators:
Wilmar Valderrama: clarinet
Karen Barreto: saxophones
Alejandro Zuluaga: electric guitar
Santiago Botero: double bass
