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Lay your head down with 51XO at
The Original Mattress Factory

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by Mike Telin

Original-Mattress-FactoryHave you ever wished you could enjoy a concert while lying on a soft mattress instead of sitting in an uncomfortable chair or pew? Dear People, the opportunity will arrive when 51XO (Five One Experimental Orchestra) presents “Gentle Darkness” on Saturday, November 18 at 8:00 pm at The Original Mattress Factory, 4930 State Road, Cleveland. The concert is free.

Described as “a 21st Century Dreamscape showcasing the modern nocturne, lullaby and musical trance in a fully immersive nighttime event,” the program will feature Ananda Sukarian’s Gentle Darkness, Alessandro Amato’s Berceuse No. 3, Sullivan Boecker’s {0}, Steve Kuhn’s Trance, and the premieres of K. Krummenauer’s Born Sleeping and John HC Thompson’s re-imagination of the George Shearing classic Lullaby of Birdland. In keeping with the sleepytime theme, milk and cookies will be provided. [Read more…]

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to present “The Mashup Concert” at Bop Stop May 13

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by Mike Telin

FiveOneBopStopMashup (noun): A mixture or fusion of disparate elements. Mashup (music): A musical genre encompassing songs which consist entirely of parts of other songs.

On Friday, May 13 at 9:00 pm at the Bop Stop, 51XO (FiveOne Experimental Orchestra) will present “The Mashup Concert.” The program will feature mashups, overlays, and works that live somewhere in between the pop and classical worlds.

Musicians have been mashing things up for centuries in one way or another. Sometimes the desired outcome was to create a new musical style, while other times the purpose was to create comedy. Whatever the reason, creating mashups has never become passé.

Why? It’s fun. [Read more…]

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to partner with Ensemble Theatre

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by Mike Telin

51XOEnsembleTheatreCreating mutually beneficial partnerships is the key to survival for arts organizations. As a result of seed grants from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) and Ensemble Theatre have formed a strategic partnership that will allow both organizations to better serve their community-building goals.

The partnership will be celebrated at Ensemble Theater on April 8 and 9 at 7:30 pm when 51XO presents “Art Music in the Dark.” The program will feature classical musical works, all of which have been composed since 2010, accompanied by projected video art, largely manipulated in real time using iPad apps. [Read more…]

NEOSonicFest: FiveOne Experimental Orchestra at Rising Star Coffee Roastery (March 5)

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by Mike Telin

RoasteryGroup-1Since 2008, the Cleveland-based music collective FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) has built a sizeable audience base because they have never steered away from their mission to experiment. Part of the ensemble’s draw is their passion for presenting of concerts in non-traditional venues. “We feel more at home in a post-industrial setting,” 51XO’s executive director Jeremy Allen told ClevelandClassical.com during a recent interview. [Read more…]

NEOSonicFest: FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to perform at Rising Star Coffee Roastery March 5

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by Mike Telin

51XO-Group“We feel more at home in a post-industrial setting, and we’re happy to have found Rising Star Coffee Roastery,” Five One Experimental Orchestra executive director Jeremy Allen said during an interview. “We always try to create a unique concert experience in collaboration with a non-traditional venue that benefits all parties — there are Rising Star patrons that are yet unfamiliar with what 51XO is all about, and I’m sure some of our fans will be newly introduced to this fabulous coffee roastery that’s right here in our great city of Cleveland.”

On Saturday March 5 at 8:00 pm, 51XO will perform works by Nico Muhly, Greg Pattillo, John HC Thompson, Jeremy Allen, Buck McDaniel, and Sarah Kirkland Snider, plus a new “experiment” conceived of and led by 51XO’s Tracy Mortimore at Rising Star Coffee Roastery, 3617 Walton Avenue, Cleveland. The concert is presented as part of the 2016 NEOSonicFest. [Read more…]

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to launch workplace concerts

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by Mike Telin

51XO-GroupSince 2008 audiences have come to expect the unexpected from the Cleveland-based FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO). The ensemble regularly presents concerts in truly non-traditional spaces including warehouses, cemeteries, sculpture gardens, and even at a vintage consignment store. Beginning in January, 51XO will extend their innovative approach to the sustainability side of the organization with a new outreach program that enables Cleveland-area employers to hire the ensemble to perform for their employees onsite.

“Sustainability is the holy grail of non-profit organizations,” 51XO cofounder and executive director Jeremy Allen said during a telephone conversation. “We are constantly tasked with finding new and increasingly sustainable ways to share art with our community. Grants are wonderful when you get them, but you can’t build a revenue model around them.”

Allen said that 51XO has learned a lot about sustainability during the past couple of years through the training they’ve received from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. “We’re creative people and we should be using those creative energies to develop new programs in both artistic and organizational capacities. I anticipate that we will have a good bit of interest in this program once the word gets out.”   [Read more…]

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra: 15 minutes with Jeremy Allen

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by Mike Telin

51xo“We’re an ensemble that usually forgoes performing in churches in favor of the less traditional warehouse settings,” FiveOne Experimental Orchestra executive director Jeremy Allen told us during a recent telephone conversation. “When we’re looking for a reverberant Cathedral, we usually look for a post-industrial one like the Screw Factory. But when the opportunity came about to perform this concert, it was a no brainer.” On Friday, November 13 at 8:00 pm at Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) will present Sacrum Silentium.

In addition to the gorgeous sanctuary with its vaulted ceiling, the church presented the group with the chance to perform with organ. The sacred setting also inspired the group to shape their program in a way that would promote a sense of repose and contemplation. “How often do we really stop to listen and reflect?” Allen said. “Society doesn’t really promote these things, so we have to be intentional about creating these opportunities.” [Read more…]

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to perform at Flower Child September 26

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by Mike Telin

51XO-1Since May of 2008, the Cleveland-based FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) has presented concerts featuring an eclectic mix of repertoire that bridges the gap between pop and art music at out of the ordinary venues such as the Sculpture Garden and the East Cleveland Cemetery. On Saturday, September 26 at 8:00 pm, 51XO will push the envelope of unusual venues even further with their latest program, “Dream House,” a guided labyrinth of solo works performed by the ensemble’s eight members throughout the two floors of Cleveland’s premier retro vintage shop, Flower Child, located at 11508 Clifton Boulevard.

“This is going to be a cool concert,” 51XO’s executive director Jeremy Allen said enthusiastically during a telephone conversation. “We’re asking people to arrive at 8:00 pm and spend the first half hour exploring the space. I’ve talked to a lot of people who know where it is but have never been inside, so we want to give everyone a chance to get a feel for the space, and do some shopping if they want to.” [Read more…]

“Sneak Peek in Chill Setting” — John HC Thompson on FiveOne’s album preview concert at the Bop Stop

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by Jarrett Hoffman

FiveOne-Experimental-Orchestra“We like to keep a very loose atmosphere at our concerts, almost like a party or a rock show, where people can move around, drink, and chat,” said FiveOne Experimental Orchestra’s artistic director, John HC Thompson. “We play a lot of nuanced, delicate music, but we don’t do it in a stiff, sit-down, traditional classical music way.”

On Friday, May 8 at 9:00 pm, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) will offer Bop Stop listeners a glimpse of the group’s upcoming album. In addition to premiering Michael Bratt’s Atari Punk, they will perform works by Jeremy Allen, John HC Thompson, David Crowell, Michael Laurello, and Ted Hearne. Admission is free.

[Read more…]

NEOSonicFest: FiveOne Experimental Orchestra to perform at Zygote Press on March 28

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by Mike Telin

FiveOneStandingThe 2015 edition of NEOSonicFest will end with a bang when FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (51XO) presents an innovative program on Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 pm at Zygote Press. Along with other surprises, the evening will include music by Marc Mellits, David Crowell, and Ted Hearne as well as a 51XO Zygote Jam.

“We wanted to play someplace downtown for the Festival, and when I checked out Zygote Press I was completely captivated by some of the equipment that they have,” 51XO’s artistic director John HC Thompson explained during a telephone conversation. “They have a lot of antiquated printing equipment and other toys we can play with like hoses, vacuum cleaners and giant pieces of metal. We’ve been having fun figuring out how to incorporate all these things into the show.”

The first half of the evening will take place in Zygote’s intimate gallery space with the orchestra set up in the center. The audience will be invited to sit or stand in a circle around the musicians. [Read more…]

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