Acclaimed piano–percussion quartet Yarn/Wire performs new works by UW Composition doctoral student Yonatan Ron, alum Yiğit Kolat, and others in an evening of adventurous contemporary music.
Biographies
Yarn/Wire
Yarn/Wire is a new music quartet dedicated to the promotion of creative, meaningful live musical experiences in the United States and abroad. Yarn/Wire achieves this by supporting composers and audiences through live performances, educational activities, and large-scale collaborative projects. Our artistic programming is driven by the desire to present music that reflects the full spectrum of our community at the highest level.
Yiğit Kolat’s music explores the liminal frontiers of musical activity and potentialities in processing extra-musical data as musical information. The complicated political and social environment of his native Turkey is a recurring theme in his diverse output, which includes acoustic, electro-acoustic, and electronic works written for orchestra, chamber ensembles, voice, and solo instruments.
His works, described as “touching and convincing...a multi-sensory universe,” (K. Saariaho) have been recognized by a prestigious array of international organizations, including the Bogliasco Foundation (2016 Edward T. Cone Bogliasco Fellow in Music), the Tōru Takemitsu Composition Award (1st Prize, 2015), the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium (Finalist, 2013), and the Concours International de Composition Henri Dutilleux (2nd Prize, 2012).
His music has been featured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia by leading ensembles and soloists, among them the Tokyo Philharmonic and Ryoko Aoki (Japan); Solistes de L’Orchestre de Tours, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, and Pascal Gallois (France); The Nieuw Ensemble, The Black Pencil Ensemble, and the Duo Mares (The Netherlands); Eric Wubbels, Jonathan Shames, the Talea Ensemble, and the Argento New Music Project (USA); the Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey; Peter Sheppard-Skaerved and Aaron Shorr (Great Britain). His music has been broadcast by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and Turkish Radio Television (TRT).
Kolat earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Washington, studying with Joël-François Durand.
B.A in Composition – Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Holland (2021)
M.M in Composition – University of Washington (2024)
DMA in Composition – University of Washington (Expected 2027)
Yonatan Ron began his musical journey as a non-classically trained guitarist. He later studied music theory and classical guitar independently under composer and guitarist Ruben Seroussi, head of the composition department and Guitar performance department at Tel-Aviv University.
During the 2015 and 2016 concert seasons, Yonatan composed for Meitar Ensemble’s 'Tedarim Program' — and occasionally participated in the ‘CEME’ festival held by Meitar Ensemble, with master classes given by G.F Haas, Ivan Fedele, and Philippe Leroux, among others.
In his music, seemingly ordinary materials develop through gradational transformations, often to the point of unrecognizability. He employs techniques associated with early music and integrates harmonic and rhythmic trajectories to shape anticipation, leading the listener toward expectation only to ultimately deceive it. His approach reflects a deep attraction to gesture, where musical events emerge through calculated methods that balance spontaneity with structural control. Yonatan draws inspiration from fields beyond music, including visual arts, mathematics, and cognitive psychology—areas around which much of his research orbits.
His works are published in the ‘Israeli Composers League’ and are frequently commissioned by the Israeli Music Festival.
Ron received several awards, including:
• ‘CCC’ (Calefax Composition Contest) 1st Prize award - 2018.
• The Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity – 2018 and 2019
• The Israeli Prime Minister Award for Music Composition - 2019
• 2nd prize for The Abraham and Felicija Klohn Prize – 2019
• The University of Washington Composition Contest 2024