ÆON Ensemble is a NYC-based collective specializing in contemporary concert music and synaesthetic collaborations.
In fluctuating configurations, ÆON has premiered over 35 new works at venues as distinguished as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and the DiMenna Center, working intimately with notable groups and organizations including So Percussion, Kronos Quartet, the United Nations, and the Earth Institute of Columbia. Their concerts have been praised for their mindful, seamless, and above all electrifying programming, embracing visual art, technology, choreography, and even fashion into their performances. Since their 2019 Queens New Music Festival debut, ÆON has been working in a more compact instrumentation which explores the acoustic synergy between the human voice, percussion, and string instruments. In this quantitatively flexible configuration of 2-3 voices, 2-3 strings, and one percussionist, ÆON has had a blast playing in more experimental and improvisatory settings, experimenting with and deploying classical conventions as well as extended techniques, channeling the standards of musical drama set forth in Monteverdi Madrigals while forging a new musical language for a theatricality relevant to the modern age.
While ÆON is an ever-expanding collective of multi-disciplinary artists, noisemakers, and imaginations, we have a core membership.
Get to know our core below.
We are a grassroots ensemble entirely supported by your generosity.
Joanna (Asia) Mieleszko is an NYC-bred Polish-American mezzosoprano and conductor. She has been the acting artistic director, curator, and principal vocalist of AEON Ensemble, ushering in 10 world premieres and 15 synaesthetic collaborations since its resurrection at the Queens New Music Festival.
Outside of
ÆON
, Asia is an accomplished interpreter of medieval, contemporary, and Eastern European repertoire. She’s performed as both singer and conductor in venues including the Kosciuszko Foundation, Zlatne Uste Golden Festival, Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Fest, and others across the U.S. and Europe. She directs the NYC-based collective Ukrainian Village Voices and otherwise leads workshops of folk singing and techniques across the Northeast and online.
Her website is under construction, but you can watch this video of her from UCMF and read about her here.
A native of Puerto Rico, Alfonso J. Piacentini holds a B.M. in Orchestral Percussion Performance from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and is currently pursuing his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting at the Boston Conservatory. He is trained extensively in latin percussion as well as in composition. He has been mentored in choral, orchestral, and band conducting with prominent figures such as Mo. David Effron, Mo. Rafael E. Irizarry, Ma. Ruth Reinhardt,. Most Recently, Alfonso was awarded the top conducting fellow scholarship for the 2019 edition of the Mostly Modern Festival. He is an advocate of new music and living composers, and the newest member of the ÆON Ensemble. Alfonso also serves as an assistant conductor to Chris Fecteau of Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble.
Check out Alfonso’s Soundcloud.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sam Strickland is an up-and-coming tenor currently based in New York City. He graduated with his Master's degree in Voice Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and earned a Bachelor's degree in Voice Performance from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Sam's recent engagements include three premieres - David Chesky's La Farranucci, David Lang's Mile Long Opera, and Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's production of Antonio Salieri's La Cifra. His favorite principal roles performed are Ralph Rackstraw in Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, and Sam Kaplan in Kurt Weill's Street Scene. Sam's diverse professional performance background features a wide variety of both sacred and secular choral repertoire, chamber music, and early music. He continues to eagerly broaden his musical horizons, and is thrilled to be a part of
ÆON ensemble since its
Queens New Music Festival debut.
Learn more about Sam at his website.
Cellist Valeriya Sholokhova is an in-demand soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. She has toured internationally across Europe, performing in Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Poland, the Baltic States, Sweden, Germany, and Ukraine. Recently, Valeriya performed as cello chair in the highly-acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
Highlights of the 2019-2020 season include concerts at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and regular appearances as a chamber musician at Weill Hall. Valeriya is a laureate of several international competitions, including the Liezen International Cello Competition and was the principal cellist at a number of music festivals, including Spoleto Festival USA, Orchestra of the Americas, Perlman Music Program, Music Academy of the West, and Thy Music Festival in Denmark.
Listen to Valeriya on her Soundcloud.
Gerson De La Rosa is a Puerto Rican percussionist and educator based in Boston and New York City. He holds a B.M. in Orchestral Percussion Performance from Boston Conservatory, where he studied under the tutelage of Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist Kyle Brightwell. Besides keeping a busy schedule of private students, he performs regularly in the most important stages of Boston as percussionist for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. As a developing percussionist in Puerto Rico, Gerson studied percussion with Jose Alicea Espada at “Musica 100 x 35” (El Sistema PR) and performed regularly with the Puerto Rico Philharmonic Orchestra and Puerto Rico Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2015, he had his solo debut with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, performing Ney Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto No. 1. During that time he also attended The Caribbean Arts Conservatory (CAC) and Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he studied Classical, Latin, Popular, Jazz, and Middle Eastern musical genres. As an advocate for new music, Gerson has collaborated with composers such as Avik Chari, Young-Jun Leon, and Carl Schimmel to premier their works. He is also the newest member of NYC-based collective ÆON Ensemble, which specializes in contemporary music and synesthetic collaborations.
Anna Willson is a singer and pianist from Washington State specializing in contemporary and early music. She joined AEON Ensemble for it’s re-emergence at the Queens New Music Festival. Since Moving to NYC in 2017, she has performed regularly with Ember Ensemble, Anglica Antiqua, Litha Symphony, The New York Estonian Society Chorus, and the Marble Collegiate Choir. Notable premiers include solo and chorus work in John Luther Adam’s “In the Name of the Earth” as part of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, as well as the North American Premier of “The Kipling Passion” by John Meuhleisen. In addition to her work as a performer, Anna is the Director of Operations for PROJECT : ENCORE, a project that helps to promote new choral works.
To learn more about Anna, check out her website.
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