Biography
As RighteousGIRLS, New York-based flutist Gina Izzo and pianist Erika Dohi continually expand their creative reach by bringing 21st century music to new audiences and commissioning works root themselves in classical idioms, but draw from other genres.
RighteousGIRLS recently performed as part of Vicky Chow’s “Contagious Sound Series” at the Cornelia Street Café, and at international venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Roulette, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Yamaha Piano Salon, An Die Musik, Bohemian Caverns, the Jazz Standard, the DC Jazz Festival, the Jazz Gallery, and the Montreal Jazz Festival.
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In the summer of 2015, RighteousGIRLS will release their debut album gathering blue (New Focus Recordings) featuring compositions by various contemporary/classical and jazz artists including Andy Akiho, Ambrose Akinmusire, Pascal Le Boeuf, Christian Carey, Vijay Iyer, Dave Molk, Mike Perdue, Jonathan Ragonese, and Randy Woolf.
gathering blue has received numerous awards including a 2015 New Music USA Awards Grant, a 2015 International Songwriting Competition Nomination for GIRLS by composer/producer Pascal Le Boeuf, and a 2014 Independent Music Awards Nomination for gathering blue (Best Album) and KARakurENAI (Best Instrumental) by composer/steel-pannist Andy Akiho.
RighteousGIRLS have performed in collaboration with various artists stemming from the New York Downtown music scene. Some recent projects include a music video of composer Andy Akiho's "NO one To kNOW One" filmed by videographer Michael McQuilken at the "Original Music Workshop" in Brooklyn, released by Vic Firth. In September 2014, RighteousGIRLS was featured on "Improvisatory Minds" an LA-based music series highlighting new works by Billy Childs, Bevan Manson, Michael Patterson, Ed Neumeister, Alan Broadbent, and Gernot Wolfgang. RighteousGIRLS have also been featured artists in viral videos presented by CDZA and in publications such as YomiTime and NYJapion.
Gina Izzo has participated in international festivals including Centre d’arts Orford in Montreal, Canada, and Les Nuits Musicales de Nice, France. An active orchestral musician, she has performed under conductors like Kurt Masur, Eric Jacobsen, JoAnn Falletta, Alondra De La Parra, and George Manahan. Izzo has performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and appeared at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Symphony Space, and the Jazz Standard. She has also worked as coordinator of New York’s Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival at Symphony Space and Chamber Music America's New Music at Bryant Park Series.
Erika Dohi has made appearances at international festivals including the Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada), Washington DC Jazz Festival (U.S), Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music (Canada), International Society of Improvised Music (U.S) alongside Wadada Leo Smith, the Tokyo Experimental Festival (Japan), and Norfolk New Music Workshop (U.S). Additionally, she has performed with contemporary ensembles including Contemporaneous, Ensemble Moto Perpetuo, Le Train Bleu, Ensemble LPR, and the Metropolis Ensemble.
Gina earned her BM from the Manhattan School of Music and MM from New York University. Erika earned her BM and MM from the Manhattan School of Music and is currently pursuing a doctorate at Stony Brook University.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.