American cellist Ashley Bathgate "...wanted a modern-day suite that could hold its own among the epic works that already exist in the repertoire." She is speaking about her debut solo album ASH, out September 27, 2019 from New Amsterdam Records. Formerly a member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars (a sextet of classical and alternative classical musicians which began as an ensemble in 1992), Ashley has left the ensemble to explore performance and recording on her own. The product of years of work (and collaboration with the living composer group "Sleeping Giant"), ASH is a modern-day take on the cello suites of the past, such as J.S. Bach's or Britten's, but this is different than one composer writing the entire work; there are six individual composers who each collaborated and wrote a movement of the six cello pieces featured on ASH.
Ashley was available to speak with Kurt Hauswirth about the album, the collaborative process, and the mindset behind the compositions and performances:
For more information or to listen to the full album, visit ashleybathgate.com or newamrecords.com.
