Pushback is a modular contemporary music ensemble founded in 2018 by Ben Roidl-Ward (bassoon) and Ally Smither (soprano). Our objective is to commission and present a new body of work featuring bassoon and soprano that addresses, interacts with, and exposes social and political issues within our communities. This goal arose from a growing frustration with what we see as an unnecessary and harmful dislocation of our artistic practice from the realities of our lives. Pushback was formed from the impulse for a close collaboration between two unusually paired voices; this spirit of collaboration expands to a deep desire to form meaningful relationships with composers of our generation and to actively participate in the creation of new work that challenges performers and listeners alike.
We are constantly re-evaluating what it means to undertake this kind of work and how we can best benefit others by centering others. We are currently planning ways to expand our performance practice into accessible educational outreach, as well as partnership with the organizations we volunteer with.
Our first commissioning project featured the premieres of four new works: three duos for bassoon and soprano by LJ White, Karim Al-Zand, and Binna Kim, and one sextet for bassoon, soprano, and string quartet by Theo Chandler. We are grateful to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, whose generous support made these commissions possible and our performances throughout 2018 and 2019 possible. Our 2020/21 program will feature new works by Sepehr Pirasteh and Yi-Ting Lu.
Ben Roidl-Ward is a bassoonist and improviser based in Chicago. His dedication to working with and advocating for composers of his generation has led him to commission and premiere numerous solo and chamber works featuring the bassoon with the goal of broadening the repertoire and expanding the possibilities of the instrument. Ben has appeared as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony and the Northwestern and Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensembles, along with several regional orchestras throughout the United States. He has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, the Spektral Quartet, the Chicago Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic. His festival appearances include the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, Lucerne, Tanglewood, Spoleto, and Banff Festivals. A 2018 Luminarts Fellow in Classical Music, Ben was recently named one of five finalists for the International Double Reed Society’s 2020 Gillet-Fox Competition. He is currently the second bassoonist of the Illinois Symphony and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for three years. Ben serves on the faculties of Carthage College, the Music Institute of Chicago, the People’s Music School, and the North Carolina Governor’s School. He is a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University, where he studied with David McGill. Previous teachers include Ben Kamins at Rice University, George Sakakeeny at the Oberlin Conservatory, and Francine Peterson in the Seattle Area.
Canadian-British soprano Alexandra Smither is making a name for herself as a firecracker performer and outspoken advocate for change in and outside of classical music. She has performed with Houston Grand Opera, Against the Grain Theatre, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Wyoming Symphony, Jeunesse Musicales Canada, the Banff Centre, and the Tanglewood Music Center, among others. In 2017 she was the grand-prize winner at the Eckhardt-Grammaté National Music Competition, winning both first prize and best performance of the commissioned work. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto (Bachelor of Music, Voice Performance) and Rice University (Masters of Music, Voice Performance), and is currently a doctoral fellow in Voice Performance at the City University of New York. In 2020/21 she is a Young Artist with Da Camera of Houston; premieres a new work by Olivia Shortt on the Long Beach Opera gala.
Alexandra is a Canadian-British citizen and immigrant to the United States. Committed to anti-racism work both in an outside classical music, she is writing her dissertation on frameworks of perception and benefit around equity programming in classical music and was recently commissioned by the University of Toronto to create a resource for racial equity programming for the Voice Studies department. Alexandra is of East-Indian and British heritage.
