“Recognized for its “deep and consistent impact on their communities of artists and music lovers” ”
Photo credit: Robert Cooper
Described as “classical turned loose in the toy store,” “top-flight,” and “imaginative,” fivebyfive is an award-winning, artist-led ensemble known for its impeccable musicianship and adventurous spirit that permeates innovative, cross-genre programming and community engagement.
fivebyfive’s mission is to engage and inspire audiences in the collaborative spirit
and creativity of today’s chamber music.
To realize its mission, fivebyfive performs music by the most exciting living composers with unforgettable musical experiences, advocating for creators who are underrepresented in the field and collaborating with partners across a wide array of disciplines.
“fivebyfive is a “Rochester success story...for its musical excellence (and) also its imagination...””
Photo credit: Robert Cooper
fivebyfive’s 2023-2024 season, “Dichotomies” began with its program Old & New: Sephardic Reflections in collaboration with Pegasus Early Music and artist Lynne Feldman. Sephardic music has its roots in the musical traditions of the Jewish communities in medieval Spain and medieval Portugal. Programs will be presented at Temple Beth El in Rochester, with other performances in the Western NY/Finger Lakes region. Music includes a new arrangement of Brazilian composer Clarice Assad’s Sephardic Suite, and a new setting of three Sephardic songs by Eastman graduate Keane Southard. The two ensembles, fivebyfive and Pegasus Early Music, will treat audiences to “old” and “new” versions of the sephardic tunes featured in the concert, with artist Lynne Feldman’s original tapestries celebrating Jewish life shared as part of the performance.
In October, 2023, the group released their third album, breath & fire, with eight new pieces for the ensemble. Music by Evan Williams, Marc Mellits, Brittany J. Green, Kari Telstad Sundet, Miguel del Aguila, Marc Mellits, and Sarah Kirkland Snider explore pieces inspired by breath (ones that have a sense of expansion and contraction and a connection to and awareness of the current moment) and by fire (ones that have
energetic movement, intensity, heat.)
“Dichotomies” continued with a celebration of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse. With its Light & Dark: Eclipse Music program, fivebyfive continues its mission to create new creative and collaborative experiences for its audiences. fivebyfive presented its eclipse-inspired program Light & Dark: Eclipse Music in Rochester at the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s Planetarium and other communities within the path of totality.
fivebyfive was awarded funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) including a three-year organization award and an artist support awards for new works by composers Jessica Meyer, Emily Princeton, and Roberto Sierra. In 2021 the group was chosen as a New Music USA Organizational Development Fund Recipient and that same year received the Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant Award with composer/harpist Amy Nam. In 2023, fivebyfive appeared at The DROM in NYC to present a showcase performance as part of the national conference of Chamber Music America. fivebyfive is supported in the Rochester region with support from Rochester Community Foundation, Farash Foundation, and Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.
fivebyfive has appeared on WXXI Classical 91.5’s programs Backstage Pass and Live from Hochstein, was featured on Performance Rochester and Performance Upstate, and has also appeared nationally on American Public Media’s Performance Today with host Fred Child.
fivebyfive became a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization in 2017, and has released three albums, breath & fire (2023), Of and Between (2021) and The Play Album (2023).
What does fivebyfive mean?
The term “fivebyfive” comes from two-way radio communication. While broadcasting, a station may request a report on the quality and strength of their signal. The signal quality is reported on two scales, signal strength and signal clarity.
fivebyfive therefore means a signal which has excellent strength and perfect clarity – the most understandable signal possible. Put simply, it means to be heard “loud and clear.”
fivebyfive
Laura Lentz (Artistic Director, flute)
Marcy Bacon (clarinet)
Ken Luk (electric guitar)
Eric J. Polenik (bass)
Haeyeun Jeun (piano)
Marc Webster (Executive Director, audio and video artist)
Board
Marcy Bacon (Secretary)
Joëlla Becker
Epongue Ekille
Emma Gierzsal (President)
Laura Lentz
Eric J. Polenik (Treasurer)
Will Pyle
Marc Webster
Advisory Board
Larry Francer (Co-Chair)
Laura Lentz (Co-Chair)
Armand Hall
Debora McDell-Hernandez
Petar Kodzas
Evan Meccarrello
Melissa Moody
Jean Pedersen
Jon Russell
Mona Seghatoleslami
“I (serve) on the fivebyfive board. This group is pushing the boundaries of new music and I’m so grateful to be along for the ride! They’re changing the perception of classical music with every performance they have.”
“I admire fivebyfive because of their musicality, creativity, and partnerships. I love fivebyfive because of their personalities, which make everything about them shine brighter.”
LAURA LENTZ is a flutist, collaborator, and teacher-mentor, exploring and sharing music’s infinite palette of emotionally expressive colors. With flute playing described as “gorgeous,” and “riveting,” she is dedicated to sharing music by today’s most forward-thinking composers, collaborating with others to create exciting and gripping work, and teaching the next generation of young musicians and artists.
She is the flutist of fivebyfive and was named Artistic Director of the group in 2020.
Laura’s debut recording, “Jacob’s Triptych,” released in March, 2023, brings together flute and electronics music by internationally known Dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis (AKA JacobTV). Recorded with frequent collaborator Marc Webster the EP has appeared on various radio programs for new classical music including WNYC’s “New Sounds” (twice) with host John Schaefer, and on Dutch Radio’s “Unheard” program. She currently is working on a new recording project with Norwegian composer Kari Telstad Sundet and a consortium project for a new work by composer Marc Mellits.
In 2015, Laura co-founded fivebyfive, a collaboratively-minded NY-based chamber group, and recently became its Artistic Director. fivebyfive has received numerous awards and support for its imaginative programming from The Eastman School of Music, New York State Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, and New Music USA. The group has premiered more than 50 compositions in the last six years and released several recordings. Laura has worked with many notable composers including Jessica Meyer, Marc Mellits, Evan Williams, Roberto Sierra, and Kamala Sankaram, along with a multitude of collaborating partners to create events that permeate innovative, cross-genre programming and community engagement.
As an author, she included nineteen miniatures for solo flute written for her in two self-published collections, Comfort Pieces for Solo Flute and Nature Pieces for Solo Flute. Her new book, Modal Flute Warmup, geared towards flutists and teachers, encourages discovery in one’s flute playing through a warmup approach that uses modes. It is slated to be published in January 2024 with Conway Publications.
A dedicated teacher, Laura teaches a large studio of students who enjoy successes in regional festivals, competitions, and youth orchestras, and is frequently invited to present flute masterclasses and workshops across the country. Also a frequently invited guest speaker, Laura advocates for new music’s viability and visibility, providing insights on reaching larger and broader audiences, and sharing experiences with her work with fivebyfive and as a solo artist.
Laura is based in Rochester, NY.
Clarinetist MARCY D. BACON teaches clarinet at Nazareth College of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Eastman Community Music School, as well as maintaining a home private studio. An active performer, Bacon is the clarinetist for the Wilmot Wind Quintet, Fem Vindar [a woodwind quintet], and contemporary music quintet fivebyfive. She has played with the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Oratorio Society Orchestra, Rochester Lyric Opera, ensemble.twenty.21 and the Western New York Chamber Orchestra. Bacon has presented sessions on wind quintet literature with her Wilmot Wind Quintet colleagues at the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Winter Conference and the NAfME All-Eastern Conference. She has also presented sessions on the topic of audiation as it pertains to both early childhood and instrumental applications at the NYSSMA Winter and Summer conferences.
Bacon holds a DMA in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, an MM from Michigan State University, and a BM from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining the faculty at Nazareth, Dr. Bacon taught applied clarinet and clarinet methods at SUNY Fredonia for seven years. She has taught general music in the Jamestown City School District and for the Diocese of Rochester. Bacon can be heard on the Oregon Catholic Press label playing sacred music and compositions by Jacob Avshalomov.
Bassist ERIC J. POLENIK has been a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005 and performed on the orchestra’s Grammy winning album, American Rapture. Polenik fell in love with classical music after hearing Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony for the first time in a high school general music class. Drawn to the low sounds of the double bass, Polenik began learning to play the instrument at age 16 and, four years later, performed the symphony with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra as its Principal Bassist.
Polenik came to Rochester earning a Master in Music degree from Eastman School of Music after earning his Bachelor of Music from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. Polenik regularly performs with many ensembles in upstate New York including the Buffalo Philharmonic, Slee Sinfonietta at University of Buffalo, Rochester Oratorio Society, and Finger Lakes Opera, and was a member of the eclectic string chamber group Gibbs and Main.
Polenik is Professor of Bass at Roberts Wesleyan University and a member of the string faculty at Hochstein School of Music. He regularly serves as a coach for collegiate and youth orchestra programs.
Guitarist KEN LUK, born and raised in Hong Kong, frequently appears as a soloist and with the Janus Guitar Duo and Trio Ghidorah. He performs with Rosa Boemia, Forró Estrelas do Norte, Mosaic Foundation, the Eastman Gamelan Ensemble, and the Rochester Mandolin Orchestra. Performance highlights include Experiencing Villa-Lobos Festival, Live from Hochstein, Rochester Fringe Festival, The Great Blue Heron Festival, and Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, among others. Co-founder of Rochester Classical Guitar and the Rochester Mandolin Orchestra, Ken is also an avid arranger, and was a finalist in the 2017 Roland Dyens Arranging International Competition. He also serves on the board of the Classical Mandolin Society of America.
Ken received his Doctor of Musical Arts in classical guitar with Professor Nicholas Goluses at the Eastman School of Music where he also earned a master’s degree in music theory pedagogy.
Pianist HAEYEUN JEUN, a native of Korea, has gained recognition as an accomplished performer in both the United States and Korea. Her impressive lists of achievements include silver medal at the 2013 Seattle International Piano Competition, second prize in the 12th Osaka International Piano Competition, first prizes in the Eastman-Hamamatsu, Piano Society of Korea, the Nanpa, and the Music Association of Korea competitions as well as many other awards and scholarships. In 2006, she was chosen by the piano faculty at Eastman to be the schoolʼs representative at the 2007 Hamamatsu International Piano Academy in Hamamatsu, Japan. As a soloist, she made her orchestral debut at age nine with the Busan Philharmonic and Chanwon Philharmonic Orchestras. She has performed with other prestigious orchestras including the Prime Phil Orchestra and Vio-LINK-oto Ensemble and in numerous solo recitals and chamber music concerts in Korea and the United States.
Jeun completed the doctor of musical arts program in piano performance and literature as a scholarship student of Dr. Douglas Humpherys at the Eastman School of Music where she also earned the master of music degree. She received her undergraduate degree in piano performance at Seoul National University. She is currently on faculty at the Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY and serves as organist and accompanist at Greece United Methodist Church.
Executive Director, recording engineer, video artist, keyboardist, and composer MARC WEBSTER brings experience in a wide range of musical genres. As a performer he has been featured as piano soloist with the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra, keyboardist for the rock band Uncommon Ground, pianist for the 52nd Street Jazz Sextet, organist for blues artists Chris Beard and Johnny Rawls, and choir director for the Aenon Baptist Church. As a composer his compositions have been featured on Performance Today, his soundtrack for the movie “Fury” was awarded semi-finalist at the Moondance Film Festival, and his commissions have included music for fivebyfive, Gibbs & Main String Quintet, and the Eastman Youth String Orchestra. Webster also owns and operates Blue on Blue Recording Studio which has a special focus working with classical musicians and composers to create albums, music videos, concert recordings, and all other kinds of audio and video artistry.
Photo credit:
Robert Cooper