Ensembles
Long time collaborators Erika Oba (piano) and Chris Bastian (bass) are joined by Jeremy Steinkoler (drums), performing original compositions and arranged works that cover a dynamic range of emotions and styles. Drawing on influences ranging from Thelonious Monk to Okinawan folk music, the band deftly navigates from be-bop to classically influenced, through-composed pieces, captivating audiences with music coming from deep listening and a remarkably intuitive sense of comping and phrasing to support one another.
The group’s last performance moved Back Room owner Sam Rudin to describe it as “One of the finest afternoons of music we’ve EVER had here." Listen here.
Founded in 2015, Sleight Ensemble is a group of composer/performers focused on the realization of new music in the San Francisco Bay Area. Featuring Erika Oba (flute), Stephanie Neumann (saxophones), and Jacob Lane (piano), the ensemble most recently produced Transit Futures, a concert program of multimedia works themed around Bay Area transit. The ensemble’s performances have included concerts at The Center for New Music (S.F.), The Simm Series (S.F.), Octopus Literary Salon (Oakland), The Musical Offering (Berkeley), UC Davis, and University of Santa Clara. They have featured collaborations with artists such as composer Stephen Parris, violinist Mia Bella D’Augelli, cellist Devon Thrumston, composer/visual artist Jessie Austin, composer Julie Herndon, and multimedia artist Alan Zignoto.
Ends Meat Catastrophe Jazz Ensemble
Ends Meat Catastrophe Jazz Ensemble was founded by Ada Adhiyatma (alto clarinet, electronics, guitar), Rachel Austin (voice, electronics), and Erika Oba (flute, piano, keyboards) in January 2015. The band has since changed membership several times, and the current members include Eli Maliwan (tenor saxophone) and Chris Bastian (bass). Drawing on their shared influences rooted in jazz, electronic, and experimental new music, they compose and improvise new works centered on ritual, deep listening, and liberation.
Rice Kings is an experimental electronic jazz group featuring Eli Maliwan (EWI, saxophones, bass, vocals, electronics) and Erika Oba (keyboards, flute) playing all original music that celebrates minorities of gender, race, and sexuality. Their sound has been described by one excited audience member as “Herbie Hancock mixed with They Might Be Giants.”
Recent Works
Bay Transits: Artifacts and Futures: Part III - Key System and BART (2024)
Written for the Sleight Ensemble as part of a multi-media collaboration with video artist Alan Zignoto. Premiered at Santa Clara University and Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in May 2024.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2024)
Original music written for Shotgun Player’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Conversations with Bessie for Play on Philly’s Children’s Orchestra (2023)
Co-commissioned by Play on Philly, and developed under the guidance of Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Premiered in May 2024.
Se-ssho-seki for string quartet (2023)
Commissioned by the Del Sol String Quartet. Premiere date TBD.
Behold the Sea for string quartet (2022)
Commissioned by the Del Sol String Quartet. Premiere date TBD.
Rockefeller’s Ghosts for solo bassoon and electronics (2022)
Written for the Composing Earth project, with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Premiere date TBD.
House of Desires (2022)
Original song written for three voices and piano for House of Desires presented by Those Women Productions in July-August of 2022, at La Val’s Subterranean Theater in Berkeley, CA.
The Melting Pot (2022)
Original music for piano, clarinet, violin, and cello written for The Melting Pot by Carol Lashof. Reading produced by Those Women Productions in April 2022.
Mycorrizhae for soprano sax and piano (2021)
Written for Stephanie Neumann (soprano sax) and Jacob Lane (piano) as part of the Sl(e)ight Ensemble’s “Of California Ecology” program. Premiered at the Vernon Salon Series on October 8, 2021.
Offerings and Incantations (2021)
An improvisational score for Hitomi Oba (t. sax) and Erika Oba (flute, piano). Written and filmed as a contribution to Lockdown Fest V, organized by Karl Evangelista. Released on April 10, 2021.
Small Rituals for clarinet and viola (2021)
Commissioned by Hsing-Hui Hsu and Elliot M. Isaacson. Premiered in Seattle, WA on October 9, 2022.
Conversations With Loved Ones - Sonja and Jack (2021)
Flute and synthesizers for virtual dance performance with Sharp and Fine on February 13, 2021.
Akoya for string quartet (2020)
Commissioned and premiered by the Del Sol String Quartet as part of The Joy Project. Digitally premiered on December 12, 2020.
Roscoe Ripley’s Spectacular Pyrite Palace (2020)
A musical for young adults about friendship, self-discovery, and seizing the means of production. Written with playwright Weston Scott with generous support from the Berkeley Civic Arts grant. Workshopped and performed online by student actors on August 29, 2020.
Cassandra for solo bassoon (2020)
Written for Joy Guidry as part of the #GLFCAMGigThruCOVID Project. Digitally premiered on July 16, 2020.
URSA: An Interstellar Cantata with LA Signal Lab (2019)
Written in collaboration with LA Signal Lab and librettist Sarah Thompson. Premiered at Monk Space in Los Angeles, CA on September 10, 2019.
Sempervirens for flute, violin and piano (2019)
Written for the Sleight Ensemble (Erika Oba, flute; Mia Bella D’Augelli, violin; Jacob Lane, piano). Premiered at the Musical Offering Café in Berkeley, CA on May 18, 2019.
Halcyon for string quartet (2018)
Written for the Del Sol String Quartet as part of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music Bahlest Eeble reading program. Premiered by the Del Sol String Quartet in San Francisco, CA on December 12, 2018.
Rituals of Death I, II, III, IV (2015)
Music by Erika Oba, lyrics by Rachel Austin. Written for Erika Oba (flute/piano), Ada Adhiyatma (alto clarinet), Rachel Austin (vocals/electronics), Chris Bastian (bass). Premiered at the California Jazz Conservatory, in Berkeley, CA on October 31, 2015.
Silence to Sorcery (2015)
Written for Stephanie Neumann (soprano sax), Ada Adhiyatma (alto clarinet), Erika Oba (flute), Megan Meyer (dancer), and Sophia Colmenarez (dancer). Presented on May 30, 2015 at the Ridge Space in Oakland as part of a night of Mythology themed new works showcased by the Ars Ex Nihilo performance series.