Featured Artist Renee Baker-- Wanderlust: Chicago-Berlin 2012

Violinist/Violist, Composer, Conductor, Artist joins the International Art Adventures at Atelier Artefact with Rolf Schuetzek curator ATelier Artefact, open air painting, photography, music collaborations, sculpture making, filmmaking, opportunities for self- directed residencies, and to create work for our exhibition in Berlin and in Chicago for Chicago Artists Month.

Renee Baker

Ms. Baker has been a member of Chicago Artist Coalition and maintains a private art studio.

 A prolific composer of her generation, Ms. Baker has composed hundreds of creative compositions for her own groups, as well as the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Great Black Music Ensemble /AACM(premiered in Umbria, Italy, 2009) and Suoni Per Il Popolo (Montreal), Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), Adler Planetarium, and the Joffrey Ballet Chamber Series. Ms. Baker has premiered over 20  compositions for the Chicago State University Student Afternoon recital Series, from 2002-2007. She has premiered over 10 works on the Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Series 2008-2010.

Ms Baker was accepted into the cutting-edge Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at Columbia University in July 2010. She recently completed music score for a film sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation and also composed scores for the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), a program entitled Brass Epiphany, part of the 45th Anniversary celebration of the AACM.

Ms. Baker is founder and music director of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, formed primarily to perform cutting edge new music for large orchestral ensemble. She is also a member of the new London-based experimental string group Burning Wood.

2010  and 2011 brought two world premieres of Ms. Baker’s symphonic work to the Chicago Sinfonietta: Sundown’s Promise for Orchestra and Taiko Drums and Divertimento Notte blu for Orchestra and 6 jazz soloists. In Feb 2012, Subtle Hues of Blackbirds was commissioned, written and performed by the Southeast Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles, with Ms. Baker conducting. Ms Baker has premiered her multi-tiered work A Different Alone at the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia 2009) February 2012 brought a new premeire , entitled Subtle Hues of Blackbirds to critical acclaim with the Southeast Symphony (LA), both penned and conducted by Ms. Baker.

Current works have been commissioned by the Gaudete Brass Quintet, a chamber opera for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago for 2013, 3 independent film scores, numerous solo artists, Jamie Wright Ballet Company (San Francisco), and two recording project involving new works of Ms. Baker, to be completed in London and Glasgow in 2012. Ms. Baker has just been appointed  Composer in Residence 2013-16for the Women’s Jazz Orchestra (LA)and has been awarded July 2012 composer residency in Vietnam  (Pho- Gold Music Collaborations).

Renée Baker is principal violist of the Chicago Sinfonietta and violinist/violist of Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Strings. As a  member of the  AACM and the creative music community, her musical affiliations have include Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Orchestra, David Boykin Expanse, Orbert Davis w/Strings Attached, Doug Carn, Karl Siegfried’s Galaxy String Quartet, Great Black Music Ensemble (AACM), Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, and the Mwata Bowden Trio, Tatsu Aoki (Miyumi Project), Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, plus collaborations with many others .

Ms Baker has guest conducted the Chicago Sinfonietta, Chicago Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Southeast Symphony (LA), the Too Hot To Handel Orchestra, CHICAGO MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT, Mantra Blue Free Orchestra..She has been appointed music director/conductor of the Resurrection Singers and Orchestra (Aurora, Il) upcoming production of  JUBILATE!! With this August collaboration through International Art Adventures, Ms. Baker plans to found an experimental music group in Berlin, based on her new group bluePoem in LA.

"Art is Business"