Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy Award–winning vocal project dedicated to mining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from singing traditions the world over, the eight-voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques and, through an ongoing commissioning process, forges a new repertoire without borders. Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, the group gathers annually at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, MA, where they’ve studied Tuvan throat singing, yodeling, belting, Inuit throat singing, Korean P’ansori, Georgian singing, Sardinian cantu a tenore, Hindustani music, and Persian classical singing with some of the world’s top performers and teachers. Commissioned composers include Rinde Eckert, Judd Greenstein, Merrill Garbus (of tUnE-yArDs), Anna Clyne, Fred Hersch, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Michael Harrison, Sam Amidon, and Ted Hearne.
Roomful of Teeth’s Grammy-nominated sophomore album, Render, was released April 2015 on New Amsterdam Records. Dubbed “both beautiful and groovy as hell” (The Thoroughfare), the album features debut recordings of works by William Brittelle, Caleb Burhans, ensemble tenor Eric Dudley, Wally Gunn, Missy Mazzoli, and artistic director Brad Wells.
Projects in 2015–16 include The Colorado, a music-driven documentary film that explores water, land, and survival in the Colorado River Basin (featuring former Kronos Quartet cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and Wilco’s Glenn Kotche); collaborations with NOW Ensemble, Kanye West, and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME); performances with the Seattle Symphony featuring Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia, appearances at new music festivals in the United States, Mexico, and Canada; and partnerships with over a dozen higher education institutions across the country.
Roomful of Teeth
Estelí Gomez, soprano
Martha Cluver, soprano
Caroline Shaw, alto
Virginia Warnken, alto
Eric Dudley, tenor
Avery Griffin, baritone
John Taylor Ward, baritone
Cameron Beauchamp, bass
Brad Wells, artistic director