UNDI Music of and for the world: A Biography Mundi displays a healthy disregard for where the boundaries of folk, classical, and rock lie. With classical , , cello, bass, and an arsenal of percussion (both traditional and found), the dynamic quintet from Austin, Texas masterfully creates a sound that is rich, celebratory, and deeply emotive. They infuse their old world compositions with the energy and vitality of their diverse influences. The truth is, this ensemble’s vision “epic, uplifting, and ultimately inspiring” is old and new, classical !e Austin Chronicle and contemporary. From a tour of Spain, with sold-out concerts in millennium-old cathedrals, to the rousing successes of the Victoria Bach Festival, Austin Friends of Traditional Music Festival, and Celtic Music Festival - Mundi’s voyage is taking them upward. The ensemble has just released their second album, The Book & the Flower. Some of Texas’s most notable talents have taken notice of Mundi’s trajectory and are working with them on collaborative projects, including Conspirare’s Craig Hella Johnson, Capital City Men’s Chorus, and a forthcoming CD with Tibetan lama Tulku Thubten “among the most intoxicating inventions Rinpoche. this music-mad city has distilled.” Readers of The Austin American-Statesman Austin Chronicle named them one of the Top Instrumental Bands for 2005. They were also among esteemed company with an Austin Critic’s Table Awards 05-06 nomination for Best Chamber Performance alongside Jupiter String Quartet, Miró Quartet, Anton Nel, and Texas Piano Quartet.

G u i t a r i s t /d i r e c t o r Darrel Mayers, violinist Bruce Colson and cellist Carolyn Hagler (Austin Symphony players), percussionist Ric Furley, and bassist Mario Gonzalez create a world of music that transcends genres. As one fan reviewer writes, “Early Music meets World Folk at the Penguin Cafe.” Indeed.

www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected] UNDI Music of and for the world: Overview

Musical idioms: Folk, classical, rock Briefing: With guitar, violin, cello, bass, and an arsenal of percussion, Mundi blends ancient and original compositions into music that seduces the ear, intrigues the imagination, and stirs the spirit. In Texas and as far away as Spain, the quintet is known for exquisite performances and an apparent (and contagious) devotion to their music.

Band hometown: Austin, Texas Band members: Darrel Mayers (guitar) Bruce Colson (violin) Carolyn Hagler (cello) Ric Furley (percussion) Mario Gonzalez (bass)

Music director: Darrel Mayers Influences: Dead Can Dance, Cirque Du Soleil, Penguin Café Orchestra, Turtle Island String Quartet, Pablo Casals, Waverly Consort, Arvo Part, Garmarna, et al.

Discography: The Book & the Flower (Street date: November 2, 2006); Apple Howling (2004) Record label: International Rain Distribution: CD Baby, iTunes, Waterloo Records 2006 Highlights: Summer tour of Spain, with sold-out concerts in Santiago de Compostela, Ribadeo, Llanes, and Castro Urdiales.

Recent appearances: Victoria Bach Festival, Austin Celtic Festival, Austin Friends of Traditional Music Festival, KUT-FM’s Eklektikos, and concerts throughout northern Spain.

Airplay stations: NPR’s Open Mic, WFUV 90.7 New York, KALW 91.7 San Francisco, WSIE 88.7 St. Louis, KUHF 88.7 Houston, WVXU 91.7 Cincinnati + 70 others in 35 states.

www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected] UNDI Music of and for the world: !e Players Darrel Mayers Guitar, Music director Mayers views Mundi as a ‘celebration of the folk spirits among us.’ In his formative years he toured France and Spain with the Holmewood House choir, an experience which he thinks helped to shape his compositional style. Having grown up in Sussex, England, Darrel began studying with Scottish composer Kenneth Dempster after moving to London in the early 1990s, and assembled a quartet (flute, tabla, cello and guitar) called the Musicians of Bremmen. Upon moving to Austin this same formation coalesced into a world fusion group Happy Valley. They released two albums - ‘Children of Gods’, and ‘Voyage into Indigo’ - the second one acclaimed by Billboard magazine. He has composed soundtracks for the CD-ROM “Wings of Fire”, and is currently teaching percussion at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Bruce Colson Violin With a strictly classical upbringing, Colson started playing violin at age 7, performing professionally by 16, and by college was a member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Bruce holds a degree in music from the University of Texas. He also enjoys musical theater, playing with Zachary Scott, Austin Musical Theater, Zilker Summer Musical, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin. He is a member of the Austin Lyric Opera and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and performs with choral groups around Austin as well as the Golden Arm Trio and the Golden Hornet Project. Hear him on soundtracks for both Hollywood and local productions and on stage with the likes of Red Skelton, Ray Price, Rod Stewart and Garth Brooks to name a few.

Carolyn Hagler Cello Carolyn Hagler moved from California to Austin to begin studies on a Master of Music degree at the University of Texas. After completing her degree, she won a position with the New World Symphony in Miami Florida, where she worked with Michael Tilson-Thomas and Leonard Bernstein. Carolyn is the founder and director of the Barton Strings, and a tenured member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded with Joe McDermott on his latest CD and on the “Spy Kids 2” soundtrack and has performed with Steve Wariner and the late Chet Atkins on a TNN special and with the Nelson Brothers on a PBS special. Ric Furley Percussion A native of Corpus Christi, Ric was drawn to percussion from an early age. With encouragement from his mother Pat, a harpist with the Corpus Christi Symphony, Ric developed fast, and by the age of 17 had joined his mother as member of the symphony. Ric studied with Norm Weinberg, an electronic percussion pioneer, and has toured Mexico with Flecha de Tiempo. He also played at the Kennedy Center with Urban 15.

Mario Gonzalez Bass Mario met Mayers in the mid 1990s and they collaborated for 6 years in Happy Valley. His style stems from the improvisational, play by-ear-tradition of many of his greatest influences. Mario’s bass lines have been an integral part of his collaborations with Mayers in Happy Valley’s two CDs and Mundi’s unique sound—not to mention his percussion work live and on Mundi’s recordings. www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected] UNDI Music of and for the world: Press I

August 18, 2005 December 2, 2004 Performance Review “Apple Howling” Review ´´´´ Mundi ensemble offers a world of It’s unlikely that you will ever quirky fun. What price novelty? experience a real apple howling - an A woman wearing a gypsy air plays a harmonium English custom serenading a tree during winter perched on a stool (the instrument, not the player). in order to produce more fruit for summer - A percussionist snaps garden shears and whizzes but Mundi’s “Apple Howling” is winter music through Toy Joy’s party supplies. A tall, straight- that anyone can share. The Austin group haired violinist wrenches his way through more mixes rhythm-based compositions, mostly by than two hours of music that defies categorization guitarist and music director Darrel Mayers, with - contemporary peasant dance? renaissance folk traditional pieces that feel seasonal without going rock? minimalist ? stale - a neat trick in this month of hackneyed holiday fare. This is Mundi live. The five-piece ensemble (plus one guest) played its Cactus Cafe fans like, well, It’s antique and antique sounding without the extra a stringed instrument. Whooping and hollering starch of scholarship or the granola aftertaste. met the group’s jig-like dance music, induding (Mayers calls it “Renaissance .”) One the title track from its winter-themed CD, “Apple thing that helps save Mundi from the sameness Howling.” Grateful chuckles erupted during of common place early-music performances is the experimental numbers, such as “Clippers,” as, yes, free addition of Asian accents and unexpected Ric Furley drafted garden tools for their percussive instruments - baroque violin, yes, but bass and possibilities. Deep listening accompanied Mundi’s garden tools such as a scythe and hedgeclippers. glorious version of “Women of Ireland,” especially for Carolyn Hagler’s soulful stirrings on the The five-some - which includes Bruce Colson, cello. Carolyn Hagler, Mario Gonzalez and Ric Furley plus guest instrumentalists revel especially Everyone contributed. Bassist Mario Gonzalez in dance music. Dance music, that is, if you played almost as many instruments as did dryly know moves from 14th-century England or waggish Furley. Guest harmoniumist Susan 15th-century Italy. This CD also contains an Boulden tended to blur the blend early in the show, extraordinarily gentle version of Sean O’Riada’s but shone in “Music for a Found Harmonium.” oft recorded “Women of Ireland” (a tune best Darrel Mayers appeared to be the creative fulcrum known to movie fans from the soundtrack of of the group, having penned many of the new- “Barry Lyndon”). With this group, you would ancient songs, while also contributing impressive not feel embarrassed raising a cup of wassail and guitar work. But it was Austin Symphony howling over a leafless tree. Orchestra violinist Bruce Colson who soaked ~ Michael Barnes up the spotlight, humble between numbers, but totally engaged with “among the most intoxicating his diabolical duties when playing. He refined a caravan of sounds that inventions this music-mad city the confounded ear could attribute has distilled.” to Celtic, Eastern European or Asian traditions, to name just a few. Michael Barnes XLENT Blog - 2006 Right this second, Mundi is my favorite Austin musical act. In my fantasy world, they play my wedding, and the whole party stops everything else just to listen. ~ Michael Barnes

www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected] UNDI Music of and for the world: Press II Neo Renaissance: Musical group Mundi blends the old with the new

June 15, 2006 ~ What happens when Renaissance music meets meets rock music? Not the auditory chaos that one might expect. The intersection of styles results in the spirited musical experience that is Mundi. As part of the Victoria Bach Festival, Mundi will perform at 7 tonight in the Leo J. Welder Center for the Performing Arts. Darrel Mayers, originally from Sussex, England, is music director and guitarist for the Austin-based group. “Often we call it Renaissance folk rock,” Mayers said. “It’s a little bit difficult to define. We can stretch from the folk genre to the classical into the world music genre. We really cross many different styles of music. The all encompassing flavor may make Mundi’s music more palatable to wider audiences. “We’re a type of universal music,” Mayers said. “That’s what the goal is.” The group’s name Mundi, translates as “world” but it refers to the world known in medieval times, meaning the world around the Mediterranean,” Mayers said. Fittingly, Mayers said the group will soon depart to tour Spain. Mundi’s album, titled “Apple Howling,” is fined with compositions from far-flung locales. The CD jacket boasts melodies from France, , Italy, England and several concoctions by Mayers himself. The group also performs a good bit of early music. “The further back in time you go, the more universal the music becomes,” Mayers said. “Back in the 13th or 14th centuries, there weren’t millions of pieces of music, millions of different styles of music.” Mayers said he delves into the old-world spirit of music by composing using the modal scales from ancient times. “If you kind of enter that realm and start playing on these ancient scales, your music tends to have an antique quality,” Mayers said. But not everything about Mundi’s sound is traditional. The other group members consist of Bruce Colson on the violin and baroque violin, Carolyn Hagler playing the cello and percussion as well as adding vocals, Mario Gonzalez playing the upright and electric bass and percussion, Susan Boulden playing the harmonium and Ric Furley playing percussion, timpani and other unusual instruments. “I’m attracted to whimsical percussion,” said Mayers, who also teaches percussion at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Austin. “People in Victoria who come to our show will see hedge clippers, flower pots and children’s toys being used by our percussionist Ric Furley.” Mayers wrote a song titled “Clippers” that he said just called for the kind of sound that couldn’t be bought in a drum shop. “We’re surrounded by all these sounds around us and I think maybe composers don’t make enough use of that,” Mayers said. “It’s great fun going to Home Depot, picking up the flower pots, tapping them and finding one that’s in tune with the music.” Though Mayers admitted that action put him on the receiving end of several curious stares.

Craig Hella Johnson, artistic director of the Bach festival, said he has collaborated with members of Mundi before and was glad to add the group’s unique influences to the festival lineup this year. “It’s very fresh,” said Johnson of Mundi’s style. “As musicians, we always want to stay open to the spirit of newness and imaginative thinking.” ~ Jennifer Lloyd

www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected] UNDI Music of and for the world: Press III

(Of Mundi’s collaboration with the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company on And Then There Were Twelve) “...I found it to be epic, uplifting, and ultimately inspiring in the way that only great art can be.” Bary Pineo, The Austin Chronicle ~ July 7, 2006

“The Book & The Flower is both haunting and whimsical, stately and exuber ant.” John Diliberto, Echoes radio

“The Book & the Flower has become one of my all-time favorite albums.” ~ Maestro Peter Bay, Conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra (and avid music collector)

“The Book & the Flower, is a showcase for their rich sound.” Producers of Open Mic from NPR’s All Songs Considered

John Aielli of Austin’s public radio station, KUT says that he is “very fond of this band...they are really, really good”

Fans write at CD Baby: “A whirling tour de force of sound, an amazing combination of ancient and modern musical elements.” “It is wonderful to hear these historical songs brought back to life. Excellent performance, and beautiful instruments.” “The arrangements are beautiful and creative and the instrumentation is rich and captivating.”

www.mundiensemble.com • contact Darrel Mayers • 512.380.0234 • [email protected]