The Choir Boys with Choir
The Choir Boys (Jeff Kaiser and Andrew Pask) premiere a new concert length work for, The Choir Boys with Choir, featuring the UCM Concert Choir under the direction of Jackson Thomas.
Originally intended to be performed at MOXsonic 2021, then MOXsonic 2022…well, you all know why it didn’t happen then….
The Choir Boys have been playing together since the early 2000’s in creative formats including outdoor-multi-building-spatialized-improvisations using hotels-and-parking-lot-roofs, as well as pubs, art galleries, concert halls, and more.
Jeff Kaiser has a wide-ranging background as an interdisciplinary creative practitioner who authors, develops, and uses his own software and hardware in improvisational and compositional environments. He is an Associate Professor of Music Technology and Composition at the University of Central Missouri. For more info: jeffkaiser.com
Andrew Pask, originally from New Zealand, plays clarinets, saxophones, and live electronics. He studied and played in his hometown of Wellington before heading to Hong Kong where he worked as a studio musician, performed on albums for Cantopop stars, and played jazz all over Asia. Since arriving in Los Angeles in 1999 he has become an integral part of its creative music scene. It was at this time that he met Jeff Kaiser and they have been performing and recording ever since as “The Choir Boys.” He has also recorded several albums of his own music, and performs regularly in Los Angeles and around the U.S. Andrew’s other interest is computers. He is on the executive team for Cycling 74, a new media music software company owned by Ableton, the makers of Live, where he designs custom software for artists and touring shows and develops components for modular synthesizer systems. Andrew has been a freelance technical consultant for numerous projects from Asia to America, working, among others, for Michael Jackson, Jay Z, MIA, Trey Songs, Lyle Mays, and Drake, and has built virtual instruments for Hollywood film composers Hans Zimmer and Cliff Martinez. Pask played clarinet for a season of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Cats” in Honk Kong, has worked for the last five years designing and programming Herbie Hancock’s live performance setup, large scale installation programming with the Denver Art Museum, and is famously featured playing saxophone on a Richard Simmon’s workout video.
Originally from Carrollton, MO, Jackson Thomas is a conductor, tenor, composer, clinician, and teacher based in the Kansas City area. Jackson serves as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO where he previously served as the Assistant Director of Choral Activities/Opera Director. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of KC VITAs (kcvitas.org), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the continued creation and performance of “contemporary-classical” vocal music, bringing over 75 world premiere performances to Kansas City audiences since 2015. He also serves as Director of Choral Music at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Lenexa, KS and is the director of AGO Schola Cantorum. Jackson is an active soloist of classical and musical theatre repertoire, sings with several ensembles around the metropolitan area, and maintains a private voice and piano studio. He holds degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Kansas in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting, respectively, and is currently a doctoral candidate (A.B.D) in Choral Conducting at the University of Kansas.
Consisting of 28 singers, Concert Choir, the University of Central Missouri’s most advanced choral ensemble, has performed in prestigious regional, national, and international venues, and tours frequently. Recent completed invitations include the Xi’an International Choral Festival in Xi’an, China, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the Missouri Music Educators Association Annual Convention. On campus, the Concert Choir presents extraordinarily diverse repertoire in several performances each semester, including a choral masterwork annually. Concert Choir is open to all UCM students by audition.