An outspoken proponent of experimental sounds and expression, violinist Charlotte Munn-Wood is an improviser, chamber musician, and sought-after educator in New York City and beyond. Her music and visual art explore the textures and timbres of the natural world and of inner psychological environments. Munn-Wood is a founding member of Du.0 (du-point-oh), a two-violin ensemble specializing in experimental contemporary and noise-based improvised music. Formed with Aimée Niemann in 2015, the duo has forged a path of innovative, inclusive programming in non-traditional venues.
The ensemble will release its debut studio album, Thoughts From the Future, in May 2024 on the Gold Bolus label. Munn-Wood is a founding member of Telos Consort, a group of creatives seeking to reimagine the concert experience through the performance of new and newer works by living composers. She is also a founding member of the Intimate Artistry String Quartet, led by composer Sarah Lydia Anne Banks, whose improvisation is guided by the principle of creative sonic embodiment. Munn-Wood is passionate about collaborating with new voices in experimental music.
She appears in the J. Pavone Ensemble on composer-violist Jessica Pavone’s album Lull (Chaikin Records), and with guitarist Tim Motzer on their duo album Warp/Weft (4k Recordings). Other collaborators include pianist Melinda Faylor, soprano Stephanie Lamprea, saxophonist Thomas Giles, and guitarist-composer Cole Blouin. She is an avid performer of new works, having commissioned and premiered works by Leah Asher, Alex Burtzos, Paul Elwood, Joshua Mastel, Zae Munn, Emily Praetorius, Sid Richardson, Scott Wollschleger, and Icli Zitella, among others.
As an active freelancer in the NYC metro area, Munn-Wood performs regularly with orchestras including the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, New England Symphonic Ensemble, Garden State Philharmonic, Manhattan Symphonie, the Curiosity Cabinet, and Richmond County Orchestra. She has appeared internationally in diverse venues, from the Weill Recital Hall and Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall to Roulette Intermedium, the Dimenna Center, National Sawdust, and the BAM Center. Abroad, she has toured Beijing, Tianjin, and Handan with composer Mojiao Wang’s opera Encounter for the Beijing Modern Music Festival. However, her true love is for performing in unusual settings and in out-of-the-way places, expanding the reach of experimental performance to audiences everywhere.
Sought after as a private teacher, Munn-Wood maintains private studios in Manhattan and Westchester County. She recently entered her sixth year on faculty at the Larchmont Music Academy, bringing her inquiry-based teaching approach to children and adults alike. Munn-Wood is a graduate of the Contemporary Performance Program at the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Curtis Macomber, and of Western Michigan University as a student of Renata Knific. Away from the violin, she is an avid runner, rock climber, and prolific fiber artist.
Supporting Musicians: Melinda Faylor (piano), Iva Casian-Lakos (cello), Caitlin Cawley (percussion)
Program
"Constellation Hartig" - Aleksandra Vrebalov (with Melinda Faylor, piano)
"write & wither" - Joshua Mastel
Selections from "Signs of the Apocalypse" - Icli Zitella
"Music Painted from Memory" - Lisa Rene Coons (with Iva Casian-Lakos, cello)
"Hart Island" - Scott Wollschleger
"When Was the Last Time" - Julie Kim (with fiber art triptych by Charlotte Munn-Wood)
"The Whisper of Phoenix" - Alexander Khubeev
"Menu I" - Zae Munn (with Caitlin Cawley, percussion)
www.charlotte-munn-wood.com, @tt_nn_oo