An evening of contemporary composition and improvisation, with performances from flautist Tilly Coulton, clarinetist Michelle Hromin, and violinist Zachary Mezzo.
Doors 7pm
Tickets £10
Michelle Hromin is a Croatian-American multidisciplinary artist, specializing in contemporary clarinet performance, writing, and curation. She uses mediums such as spoken word, electronics, and improvisation in her artistic practice to explore her identity, heritage, and human relationships.
Recent engagements include touring A Steve Reich Celebration with the Colin Currie Group in Japan and across the US and performing at the BBC Proms. As an in-demand clarinetist, she has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tokyo Opera City, Iklectik, and Cafe Oto and worked with groups such as eighth blackbird, English National Opera, London Mozart Players, Fifth House Ensemble, Lisa Bielawa’s Broadcast from Here series, Audentia Ensemble, and International Contemporary Ensemble.
An advocate for new music, Michelle has commissioned and performed dozens of new works, including as a 2022 Fellow with Bang on a Can and 2023 eighth blackbird Creative Lab Fellow. Her 2021 performance project Kalendar: 12 Miniatures for 2021 brought awareness to her Croatian heritage through improv-based clarinet works informed by the months of the Slavic calendar. The two-volume EP was self-released on Bandcamp.
Michelle is the Artistic Director of standard issue, a new music collective aiming to explore the archetypal boundaries within music and its culture. She performs, curates, and commissions new works with the group to promote experimental music accessibility and inclusivity.
Tilly Coulton is a flute player, improviser, and teacher from Devon, UK. A graduate with distinction from the Royal College of Music (MPerf 2024), and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (BMus(Hons) 2022), her skills range from orchestral playing and solo/chamber recitals to contemporary/experimental music and improvisation.
Tilly is the recipient of several major awards, including the ABRSM Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award, and John MacGregor Flute Prize, as well as achieving first prize in both the RCS Concerto Competition and RCS Governor’s Recital Prize for Woodwind within the same week. Recent solo engagements include recitals with Tim Carey and Sophia Lim, and her concerto debut in 2024 performing Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears.
As a freelance orchestral player, Tilly has performed throughout the UK and taken part in professional schemes with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Scottish Opera. She served as principal flute with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland in 2022. Recent highlights include Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie at the Royal Festival Hall and John Adams’ Harmonielehre at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
A keen supporter of contemporary and experimental music, Tilly is Creative Director and principal flute player of the contemporary ensemble standard issue: a group that prioritises inclusivity, accessibility, and bringing music by living composers to new audiences. Previous projects also include Ensemble Modern’s Young Ensemble Academy (2024), Hylozoic/Desires - An Omniscience: an atmos-etheric, transnational, interplanetary, cosmist bird opera, spanning seven continents and the many verses (bass flute) performed at the Finish National Opera (2024), Sound and Music UK Ensemble in Residence (2024), Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s NEXT Programme (2023-24), Floating Worlds: ”The Seaweed Gatherers” by Daryl Jamieson (composer) and Graham Eatough (theatre director) (2022), and performing free improvisations regularly with the London Improvisers Orchestra and others.
Zachary Mezzo is an experimental violinist and composer from New York. Zach’s music blends elements of ambient, minimalism, electronics, and noise. His live set showcases a vulnerable, physical performance style and provides an immersive listener experience.
Zach’s debut solo recording Proximity EP (2024, cmntx records) combines “spine-tingling improvisations” (AnEarful) with electronics that are harsh yet ethereal, and explores the possibilities of contemporary violin playing. Zach is a member of the band Catcher and a collaborator of countless artists in the NYC music scene and beyond (Christopher Emond, knotted, Shower Curtain, Mila Culpa, Dan English, Monobloc, Miss Grit). He has written for ensembles such as JACK Quartet, Bearthoven Trio, and Unheard-of Ensemble, and is an active film composer and arranger. Zach’s upcoming solo record Home Movies—a collage of field recordings, DIY chamber music, and dissected songwriting—will be released on Crane Operator in April 2026.