The Christine Burke Ensemble is an ever-changing group of Iowa City-area musicians (performers, composers and improvisers) who are interested in performing open, improvisatory, and experimental works. They exclusively play works/concepts by their members, who include;
Christine Burke* - tabletop organ, clarinet
Laura Canelo Cohen* - flute
Justin Comer* - saxophones
Carlos Cotallo Solares - guitar, violin
Jenna Ferdon - violin
Liz Fleissner - oboe
Keegan Hockett - bassoon
Lex Letourneau* - flute, voice
Zachery Meier - flute
Vero Rose Smith - horn
Ramin Roshandel* - melodica
Alex Spenceri - euphonium, trombone
Gabi Vanek* - bassoon
Will Yager - bass
(current members denoted with asterick)
July 22nd, 2022 @ 9:00pm - STRANGE MEETING: Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble w/ Ion Alexakis, Alyx Rush, and The Ross Clowser Ensemble at Gabe's. Event information here.
June 4th, 2022 @ 7:00pm - Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble w/ EMS Quartet at Vulpes Bastille in Kansas City, MO. Event information here.
June 3rd, 2022 @ 7:10pm - Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble @ Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival.
May 7, 2022 @ 8:30pm - Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble will perform as part of the Open Air Media Festival. The performance will include 3 recent songs by LL x CBE and will end with a community improvisation/processional. Event information here.
April 8, 2022 @ 7:15pm - Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble performs at Mission Creek Festival!
Lex Leto x CBE is a pile of friends who like to make noise together. While they are all “classically” “trained” musicians, they depart from their roots in favor of aleatory, noise, and song. Though each member’s individual work is distinct from the next, they share the value of creative exploration. What results is a process-based, improvisatory, experimental, cathartic, collaborative, theatrical, energetic, honest, intimate yet loud, weird yet accessible, fun-loving, and compelling performance that will make you say “Wow, I never thought I could sing along to music this weird!”
The Fly
Lex Leto x Christine Burke Ensemble
Phosphoresce in sympathy (2021)
a site-specific piece written for performance at Public Space One.
This performance was supported by an Iowa Arts & Culture Resilience Grant from the Iowa Arts Council. Listen to an excerpt here.
RADIO TRIO (2020)
written by Justin Comer
[r]amp work (2019)
performed at [r]amp fest
listen here
AT A STEADY CONSISTENT RATE (2018)
for 5+ Performers (2016)