KHASMA PIANO DUO Ashlee Mack and Katherine Palumbo

The Khasma Piano Duo was formed in 2012 by Ashlee Mack and Katherine

Palumbo, who have been playing together since meeting as undergraduates at Bucknell University in 2000. Because they share a passion for contemporary

music, the duo has dedicated themselves to the performance of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. Their concert tours have taken them to Illinois, Indiana,

New York, Pennsylvania, West Viriginia, and Wisconsin. They recently performed at the SCI National Conference at Ball State University and were invited to give a

program of American contemporary works for the Illinois College Fine Arts Series. In January 2015, Khasma presented the world premiere of Robert Morrisʼ

Forty Fingers for eight hands at the Eastman School of Music. They have also premiered and recorded James Romigʼs Time Seems to Pass and David Vayoʼs Times and Places. Upcoming premieres include Matthew Heapʼs And the Earth Sang to Me Through the Wind and Lawrence Mossʼ De Profundis. Their debut

album, Switchback, is available at CD Baby, Amazon, and iTunes, among others.

BIOGRAPHIES

Pianist Ashlee Mack has given recitals in Germany, Italy, and across the United States. Specializing in contemporary music, she has performed solo and chamber music with organizations such as the Society for Chromatic Art, Vox Novus, New Music Forum, Iowa Composers Forum, New Music Festival at Western Illinois University, Bowling Green New Music Festival, Aspen Composers Conference at the Aspen Institute, PASIC, and SCI. Mack is co-founder of the Khasma Piano Duo, and their debut album, Switchback, was released in November 2015. Other recordings include Odds and Ends by Robert Morris and For Milton by Christian Carey, both featured on the Milton Babbitt: a composers' memorial CD set published by Perspectives of New Music/Open Space, and James Romigʼs Transparencies on the Mosaic: Society of Composers album. She was an artist-in-residence at Wupatki National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park in December 2013 and participated as an auditor at the 2015 June in Buffalo New Music Festival. Upcoming artist residencies include Centrum in Port Townsend, WA, in December 2016 and Everglades National Park in December 2017. In collaboration with composer and husband, James Romig, Mack will present the world premiere of his 60-minute solo piano piece, Still, at the Clyfford Still Art Museum in Denver in 2017 and his new work for piano and orchestra commissioned by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony in 2018. Mack is currently the Coordinator of Piano Instruction at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Katherine Palumbo is a pianist, vocalist and advocate for the performance of contemporary music. As a founding member of both the Khasma Piano Duo and Trillium Ensemble (flute, clarinet and piano trio) she is passionate about collaborating with others on uniquely programmed concerts and has premiered pieces by notable composers such as James Romig, Robert Morris, Federico Garcia, Efrain Amaya, Nathan Hall, Matthew Heap, and Mark Fromm. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Palumbo has performed with the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Alia Musica, OvreArts and has performed live on Classical WQED 89.3 FM. She has been an accompanist at Duquesne University, a vocal coach and accompanist for Chatham Universityʼs Minna Kaufmann Ruud Scholars, and director of music for Incarnation of Lord Catholic Church. Most recently she performed The Silent Spring Project with the Trillium Ensemble as part of the New Hazlett Theaterʼs 2015/2016 CSA (Community Supported Art) Performance Series, and released debut albums with both Khasma (Switchback in November 2015) and Trillium (Silent Spring in April 2016). Palumbo earned her degree in piano performance from Bucknell University where she studied with Barry Hannigan. Other notable piano teachers include Maria Caruso and Ralph Zitterbart of Pittsburgh, PA. She received her Alexander Technique teaching certificate from the Philadelphia School of the Alexander Technique under the instruction of Martha Hansen Fertman. She currently teaches piano and the Alexander Technique from her home in Pittsburgh. Upcoming performances in 2016/2017 include a concert tour of two piano and four-hand contemporary works with Khasma at West Virginia University, Marshall University and Chatham University in October of 2016, as well as a performance of The Silent Spring Project with Trillium at Carnegie Mellon University in March of 2017.

CONTACT

WEBSITE: www.khasmapianoduo.com EMAIL: khasmapianoduo@gmail.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/khasmapianoduo

REPERTOIRE LIST

Daniel Adams — Double Helix (2 pianos)

John Adams — Hallelujah Junction (2 pianos)

Jean Ahn — Fingerdance (4 hands)

Samuel Barber — Souvenirs, Op. 28 (2 pianos)

William Bolcom — The Serpent's Kiss (2 pianos)

Paul Bowles — Sonata (2 pianos)

Benjamin Broening — Double Nocturne (2 pianos)

Kyong Mee Choi — In Void (2 pianos)

Cosimo Colazzo — Stanze (4 hands)

Claude Debussy — Nuages (2 pianos)

Marti Epstein — memories of 13 snowflakes (4 hands)

Morton Feldman — Intermission 6 (2 pianos)

Matthew Heap — And the Earth Sang to Me Through the Wind (2 pianos)**

Jackson Hill — Toro Nagashi (2 pianos)

Alan Hovhaness — Mihr, Op. 60 (2 pianos)

Michael Ippolito — pianoduo (4 hands)

David Maki — Three Preludes (2 pianos)

Jocelyn Morlock — half-light, somnolent rains (2 pianos)

Robert Morris — Simple Stars (2 pianos) — Forty Fingers (2 pianos, 8 hands)*

Lawrence Moss — Omaggio (4 hands)

— De Profundis (2 pianos)**

James Romig — Time Seems To Pass (2 pianos)**

Igor Stravinsky — Tango (2 pianos)

David Vayo — Times and Places (2 pianos/2 keyboards)*

Symeon Waseen — Clockwork 014589 II (4 hands or 2 pianos)

Amy Williams — Crossings (4 hands)

Nina Young — Kolokol (2 pianos and electronics)

Mark Zanter — Gestures IV (2 pianos)

*world premiere **world premiere and written for the Khasma Piano Duo

PAST and UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

FALL 2016

October 19, 8:00PM

West Virginia University Bloch Hall, Creative Arts Center

October 20, 7:30PM Marshall University

Smith Music Recital Hall

October 21, 7:30PM Chatham University

James Laughlin Music Hall

SPRING 2016

February 27, 7:30PM Illinois Wesleyan University

Westbrook Auditorium, Presser Hall Featuring the world premiere of David Vayo's Times and Places

FALL 2015

August 30, 4:00PM Bucknell University

Natalie Davis Rooke Recital Hall

October 17, 7:30PM Illinois College Fine Arts Series

Rammelkamp Chapel

October 18, 3:00PM Knox College

Kresge Recital Hall

SPRING 2015

January 24, 8:00PM Eastman School of Music

Hatch Recital Hall Featuring the world premiere of Robert Morris' Forty Fingers for 8 hands with Amy Xuan Zhang,

Daniel Pesca, and Oliver Hagen

April 10, 5:30PM Ball State University

Sursa Hall

FALL 2014

August 27, 7:30PM Western Illinois University

COFAC Recital Hall James Romig's Time Seems to Pass (extended version)

September 28, 3:00PM

Knox College Kresge Recital Hall

October 2, 6:30PM Northern Illinois University

Recital Hall

October 3, 5:00PM University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Light Recital Hall James Romig's Times Seems To Pass (extended version)

October 3, 7:30PM

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Light Recital Hall

The Sonict Ensemble New Music Series

SPRING 2014

Society of Composers, Inc. National Convention Ball State University, Sursa Hall

March 21 — 10:00AM Featuring James Romig's Time Seems to Pass and David Maki's Three Preludes

FALL 2013

October 1, 7:30PM

Western Illinois University COFAC Recital Hall

October 2, 4:00PM

Illinois College Rammelkamp Chapel

October 4, 7:30PM

Knox College Kresge Recital Hall

October 6, 4:00PM Bucknell University

Natalie Davis Rooke Recital Hall