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Beth Fleenor

Composer, clarinetist, and raucous vocal percussionist Beth Fleenor harbors a strong love for variety and all sonic manipulation, moving freely through genres such as jazz, rock, classical, contemporary chamber, Slavic & American folk, metal, musique concrete, ambient, noise & pop. Her work has been heard internationally from 100,000 seat festivals, maximum-security prisons, rural bars, art galleries, bunkers, sidewalks, sacred spaces, and some of the most prestigious concert halls, museums, clubs and theaters in the country - in live music, recording, theater, dance, installation, and film. Believing that "art is the discipline of being," Fleenor uses sound to open the channels of communication between and within individuals and environments. She has been based in Seattle since 1998.

Fleenor is honored to have worked with artists such as Wayne Horvitz, Denney Goodhew, Robin Holcomb, Butch Morris, Bobby Previte, King Crimson's Trey Gunn, Mike Dillon, Matana Roberts, Jherek Bischoff, Joshual Kohl, David Byrne, Terry Riley, Jim Knapp, Paris Hurley, Bill Patton, Yemin Kim, Paul Moore, Timothy Young, Samantha Boshnack, William O. Smith, Eyvind Kang, Malcom Goldstein, Marco Benevento, Gretta Harley, Amy Denio, Kultur Shock, Bright Archer (Johanna Kunin), Parenthetical Girls, Robin Lynn Smith, Gino Yevdjevich, Shane Perlowin, Jessika Kenney, Implied Violence, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Paul Budraitis, Jessica Lurie, Jeff Huston, Tom Swafford, John Burrow, Matthew Richmond, Izaak Mills, Stephen Parris, Mark Ostrowski, Michael Owcharuk, Stephen Fandrich, and Zachary Watkins, among many others.

Currently she can be found performing with Crystal Beth & the Boom Boom Band, Workshop Ensemble (WE), Sam Boshnack Quintet, Double Yoko, FLOW (duo with Michael Owcharuk), Wayne Horvitz's Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble, Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble, and projects of the Monktail Creative Music Concern.

Fleenor holds a Bachelor of Music from Cornish College of the Arts. Her work has been supported by Jack Straw, 4Culture, Allied Arts, and the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

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Extended Analysis

Wayne Horvitz/The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble: At The Reception, Wayne Horvitz: 55: Music And Dance In Concrete

Read "Wayne Horvitz/The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble: At The Reception, Wayne Horvitz: 55: Music And Dance In Concrete" reviewed by John Ephland


Wayne Horvitz is a musical universe unto himself. Has been for well over 35 years. And it's not just his stick-to-it-ive-ness that continues to make his music so damn engaging, a contrariness redefined. Consider these two recent releases as prime examples. The composer/bandleader/keyboardist (who turns 60 in 2015) has a musical history that just might grab you by the throat, if not coax you into some kind of mesmerizing trance. 55: Music And Dance In Concrete and At The Reception ...

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Album Review

Wayne Horvitz/The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble: At The Reception

Read "At The Reception" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Wayne Horvitz already has lovely. It's a tool he wields with ease in his music, be it in his Gravitas Quartet of piano/trumpet/cello/bassoon, his Sweeter Than The Day acoustic quartet or the electric Zony Mash. He even brought lovely to John Zorn's shocking Naked City bands of the 1990s. Horvitz has the ability to distill music, be it classical, jazz, film, or free, down to the essence of melody and harmony.He applies that lovely to his little big ...

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Interview

Beth Fleenor: The Discipline Of Being

Read "Beth Fleenor: The Discipline Of Being" reviewed by Jack Gold-Molina


Reeds player, multi-instrumentalist sonic manipulator, and founder of the Frank Agency that was “established in an effort to open the lines of communication, dedicated to bridging the spaces between artists, presenters, and audience members," Beth Fleenor strives to move freely between musical genres uninhibited by categorical boundaries. She has worked extensively with musical luminaries including Wayne Horvitz, Gino Yevdjevich and Kultur Shock, and Samantha Boshnack. Adopting the motto that “art is the discipline of being," Fleenor has performed internationally at ...

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Beth Fleenor transcends labels - a multi-talented, creative force in Seattle."

- City Arts Magazine

"...a supremely versatile and virtuosic maverick"

- The Stranger

"Fleenor performs with emotional immediacy and good humor. Her tone is vibrant and full bodied, and her ideas fertile."

- All About Jazz

"An adventurous clarinetist"

- The Stranger

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