Open your eyes; listen, listen… But they don’t tell you what you will see and hear. All they can tell you is what they have seen and heard, in their time in this world. – Ursula LeGuin
Seen/Heard Trio
Erika Boysen, Flute • Jennifer R. Ellis, Harp • Megan Ihnen, Mezzo-Soprano
The Seen/Heard Trio is an American contemporary music trio devoted to performance that delights the senses. Combining the skill and musicianship of classical training with the fearlessness of new music adventurers, Seen/Heard Trio is helping audiences find the joy and wonder in chamber music.
Seen/Heard was forged out of a common dedication to fiercely compelling performances and persuasive story-telling through classical music. Actively engaged in community-building, the trio develops performances and educational opportunities to draw new and veteran audiences of all ages.
Erika Boysen
Flutist, Erika Boysen is an active performer, educator and collaborative artist who has recently been appointed Assistant Professor of Flute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Known for her verve and energy while teaching, Erika has served on the faculties of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Northwestern Michigan College and the Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts. Described as a “…polished and confident artist…” by the Classical Voice of North Carolina, she has performed with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, UNC School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra and the Central Iowa Symphony. As a musician who is comfortable in both classical and popular music scenes, Erika has performed with Boston’s Calithumpian Consort, A Far Cry and Discovery Ensemble Chamber Orchestras and has worked with conductors, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano and Hugh Wolff. Erika’s orchestral and chamber pursuits are complemented by her appearances at ArtX Detroit, Meadowbrook, and Culture Lab Festivals. Committed to developing new and innovative ways to both present and teach the classical flute repertory, a significant component of her research and scholarship is focused on crossdisciplinary collaborations across the arts. Erika received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan, Master of Music from the New England Conservatory and Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Her teachers have included: Tadeu Coelho, Kimberly Helton, Amy Porter, Paula Robison and Mark Sparks. For more information, please visit erikaboysen.com.
Jennifer R. Ellis
Committed to pushing the boundaries of harp performance, harpist Jennifer R. Ellis (D.M.A. University of Michigan, M.M. Cleveland Institute of Music, B.M. Oberlin) is the first harpist to attend the Bang on a Can, SPLICE, and Fresh Inc. summer festivals. As an avid supporter of contemporary music, Ms. Ellis has performed over forty premieres and specializes in creating new extended techniques for harp. She has performed with Britten Pears Emerging Composers Residency, Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra Institute, and Texas Music Festival. Ms. Ellis is the recipient of the Alice Chalifoux Prize, American Harp Society Grant, Rackham Centennial and Graduate fellowships, AT&T Foundation and Conservatory Deans’ scholarships, and holds prizes in the Ann Arbor Society for Musical Arts, Coeur d’Alene Young Artists, Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, and Inez Stafford competitions. She co-runs the Harpist Commissioning Collective and founded the Ask A Harpist Project, an online educational resource dedicated to answering composer submitted questions about the harp. She served as the harp department assistant at Oberlin and CIM, has published in The American Harp Journal, and teaches harp and eurhythmics. Ms. Ellis believes in taking the harp off its pedestal and has used her studies in Oberlin’s social entrepreneurship program and CWRU’s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations to create a wide variety of musical community engagement projects. She was a 2014-2015 Engaged Pedagogy Initiative Fellow at the University of Michigan where she was trained in community-based learning.
Megan Ihnen
Celebrated as an insightful musician in challenging 20th & 21st century vocal repertoire, Megan Ihnen (mezzo-soprano) is committed to new works and innovative performance. Megan is a tireless promoter of contemporary classical music for the voice and her penchant for making complex vocal music accessible and exciting only continues to grow. According to the Baltimore Theatre Journal, “The revelation of the evening was the performance of Salvatore Sciarrino’s odd one-woman operatic drama, Infinito Nero. “Ihnen gave a mesmerizing dramatic and musical account of the strange mystic, Saint Mary Magadelen de Pazzi,” with SONAR new music ensemble in February 2014. She was invited as the only voice fellow to Fifth House Ensemble’s Fresh Inc. program in 2013 as well as at the 2012 Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA. Her performance of George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children at ‘Banglewood’ was called “very good indeed, sharp and fervent” for NewMusicBox. She has traveled internationally to perform at Music11 and impuls – International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music. Megan has premiered and performed new works for leading new music organizations such as New Music Gathering, Detroit New Music Marathon, Omaha Under the Radar, Rhymes With Opera, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Center for Fiction, and more.
Be Seen/Heard With Us!
For bookings and press inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
Seen/Heard Project regularly commissions and performs new music. Have a score you’d like us to consider? Please drop us a line: [email protected]