Wild Up makes their Big Ears debut as one of the most innovative forces in contemporary music. Led by artistic director Christopher Rountree, the Los Angeles-based ensemble has spent more than a decade reshaping the possibilities of classical performance—merging composed and improvised music, conceptual art, minimalism, and audience-focused experimentation. Violinist-vocalist Darian Donovan Thomas and the group’s many composer-performers help shape projects that feel communal and alive.

Here joined by veteran critic Peter Margasak, Rountree and Thomas focus on their history as an ensemble and aligning their creative energies towards two groundbreaking American artists: Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell. Their Eastman projects including "Femenine," developed over more than a decade—channel the music’s intensity, freedom, and disruption, creating performances that feel both fiercely present and deeply vulnerable. Their Arthur Russell work, the 90-minute dance-floor experience, “24→24 Music,” celebrates Russell’s emotional clarity and experimental spirit. Expect aural catharsis, vivid imagination, and boundary-breaking music-making from one of today’s most electrifying new music ensembles.