Inscape’s Distinctive Sound Emerges from School of Music’s Innovative Culture

Inscape Chamber Orchestra

Inscape Chamber Orchestra photo by Jennifer White-Johnson
 

Innovation and musical exploration are trademarks of the UMD School of Music, so it’s no surprise that two SOM staff members, both alumni of the school, have embodied that concept in the inventive music of Inscape Chamber Orchestra.

Founded by Assistant Director for Artistic Planning and Operations, Richard Scerbo and joined by Cara Fleck, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, the thirteen-member ensemble released their new album, Sprung Rhythm, this past July. The album features a diverse selection of six world premiere chamber works by emerging American composers Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis, Joseph Hallman and Justin Boyer.

Inscape’s roots can be traced to the UMD School of Music when Scerbo and other music students collaborated at the Clarice Smith Center as the Philharmonia. Since its creation in 2004, Inscape has become one of Washington, D.C.’s most original chamber ensembles. Seeking to engage audiences with both standard and non-standard works, the group has commissioned over 20 piecess.

Inscape returns to the recording studio in January for another recording on the Sono Luminus label.  They perform next in the area on Sunday, February 9, 2014 at 3PM at The Mansion at Strathmore in a program of Brahms and Barber along with two composers with local roots: Richmond-born electronica and symphonic composer Mason Bates, and Peabody Institute and Montgomery College faculty member Justin Boyer.