"sTem's ensemble playing is beautifully executed throughout..."
"The strongest aspects of sTem's first album are their collaborations: with each other... it is within this fertile ground that the strength of their musicality and commitment to their art shines brightest."
The Clarinet , September 2017
Read the full review HERE
"Oh my GOODNESS what an exhilarating performance by sTem tonight. At times funny, heartbreaking, wistful, romantic, lyrical, declamatory, religious... an overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful program. Thank you SO MUCH! If you don't know this ensemble, GET TO KNOW THEM!"
Alexandra Porter, Artistic Director
Contemporary Undercurrent of Song Project
Princeton, NJ
"All pieces and performances that evening proved to be excellent but the next one was perhaps, for me, the standout. Rex Isenberg’s Das Stunden-Buch is an ambitious setting of four poems from Rainer Maria Rilke’s 1905 collection of the same name. The sTem ensemble were clearly thoroughly rehearsed; the piece is technically and emotionally demanding and may well have failed in lesser hands. We in the audience were irresistibly transported ... "
SoundWordSight Arts Magazine
New York, NY
"La interpretación de las piezas fue de tal profundidad y fuerza....."
"The interpretation of the works were of such profundity and power......"
RuideroXXI
Mexico City, Mexico
Read the full review (in Spanish) HERE.
The New Yorker: Classical Music Listing
Spectrum: “Erwartung”
October 29 2015
Those looking for a pre-Halloween fright might enjoy an encounter with Arnold Schoenberg’s white-hot modernist monodrama, beamed direct from Freud’s Vienna, which outlines in lurid detail a scene of a woman wandering in the woods who stumbles on the dead body of her lover. Scored for large orchestra and soprano, the piece gets pared down—way down—by Peter Andreacchi (who also made a new English translation of Marie Pappenheim’s chilling libretto) and performed at the intimate downtown venue by the soprano Meagan Brus, the clarinettist Eric Umble, and the pianist Sophia Vastek. (121 Ludlow St. spectrumnyc.com. Oct. 29 at 7.)
Beyond the Practice Room: The Official Podcast
Season 1, Episode 2: Featuring sTem
“It is not often that a composer has the opportunity to collaborate with an ensemble that is able to approach a piece of new music with the same sophistication, sensitivity, and attention to detail as a piece of standard repertoire and can consistently deliver dazzling performances of new work alongside the classics. In this way, working with sTem is a dream for any artist. Their rare blend of intelligence, poise, and extra-extraordinary talent sets sTem apart from the pack, and they are a group whose contributions to the world of chamber music will undoubtedly leave a mark.”
Rex Isenberg
Composer
“ … sTem performed a benefit concert at The Allen Theater in Annville, Pennsylvania. The mission of the concert was to bring awareness to the social and economic inequalities of women worldwide and further the pursuit of social justice for women. All proceeds of the event benefited Lebanon Family Health services, a local organization that meets the healthcare needs of uninsured women in Lebanon County. sTem is a dynamic group of young people that have a unique talent of making music speak about the human condition. Through their use of music and their inspirational pursuit for social justice, this trio is gifted with the ability to transform the listener’s experience into an elevated level of social consciousness.”
Kimberly Kreider
President/CEO, Lebanon Family Health Services
“sTem performed a benefit concert for Lebanon Family Health Services at The Allen Theater in Annville, PA … They are a talented group of young people that provided quality and elegant entertainment to my patrons. sTem created a warm and welcoming atmosphere that was a true asset to my business. Their sophisticated style is one that can be appreciated by any music lover.”
Skip Hicks
The Allen Theater
