On February 7, Merkin Concert Hall's Ecstatic Music Festival brought together two performer/composers with a penchant for instrument invention and oddball electronic manipulation: Angélica Negrón and Sxip Shirey. The pair were joined by the experimental violinist Todd Reynolds, guitarist Noveller and wine glass virtuoso Johnny Rodgers. 

The performance--marked by prepared guitars, heavily processed vocals, shimmering chords performed on tuned wine glasses, and Reynold's propulsive, jazzy technique--defied easy categorization, blending composition and improvisation, the synthetic and organic.

The evening also included the world premiere of Negrón’s chamber piece El Gran Caleidoscopio, performed by the 20-piece teen ensemble Face the Music. The composition layered Angelica's incorporated sing-songy vocals, accordion, toy percussion and live electronics over the sounds of the chamber orchestra.

Listen to the entire show here, and in case you missed it, check out the videocast of Angélica Negrón and Johnny Rodgers performing at Q2 Music's Ecstatic Music Preview live in The Greene Space on February 1.