Biography
Dr. Evan Kassof (b. 1988) is an opera maker, sound artist, composer, and conductor, based in Philadelphia. His most recent opera – libretto by Aleksandar Hut Kono – Ganymede 5 premiered in the 2019 Philly Fringe Festival, while his operas Colony and Greenland were performed in London at the Royal Opera House. He is the Music Director of ENAensemble and is currently producing the second Serial Opera Project, bringing six newly commissioned songs and operas to life. He has conducted extensively in Philadelphia as a new music specialist and performs as a cellist and viola di gamba player. He earned is PhD in Music Composition from Temple University in 2021 with a specialization in opera making and research.
With a background in physics, he has collaborated directly with physicists on Heat Death and
Turbulence and written phenomenologically-inspired works such as those in his Cosmos n series. As a Sound Artist, he has collaborated with Austen Camille on the 5+ hour long piece Theme and Variations on Field Notes and textile researcher Ana Mosquera on Deadflipping for the National Liberty Museum’s This is my Home exhibition. He will be in residency at Pine Meadow Ranch this summer. When not making music, he is winning strikes as a higher education union organizer.
Say Hi!
Reach out to chat, talk about music, commissioning, union organizing, or teaching!
Contact page▸
Variations on a Theme…
CONDUCTOR
Recent Engagements:
May 2023, Erin Busch’s Perennial recording for her DMA dissertation.
ENAensemble 2022-2023 Serial Opera Productions
September 14th, Wailing at the Moon an opera by Traci Williams and Sepehr Pirasteh [postponed due to COVID, rescheduled for January 2023]
November 11th and 14th, Earth Girls Named Molly an opera by Maya Johnson and Helena Michelson.
January 25, 2023, Wailing at the Moon an opera by Traci Williams and Sepehr Pirasteh and Neither Created Nor Destroyed with libretto by Kendra Preston Leonard and music by Jessica Rudman.
Alcina REVAMPED produced by Alter Ego Chamber Opera. An opera by Handel with a new libretto by Alize Francheska. Performed in the Adrienne Theater, part of the 2021 Philly Fringe Festival.
Temple Composers Orchestra (2017-2021), led the premiere of dozens of new works by Temple student composers. The 2021 Concert and the 2020 Concert.
ENAensemble productions (2018-present), led the premiere of seven operas, including Ganymede 5 and the episodes of The Serial Opera Project, as well as the staging of Pierrot Lunaire, Ravel’s Three Poems on Malarme, Greenland, and a variety of film scores and chamber ensembles.
COMPOSER
Recent works:
Cosmos 7 - Tidal Music | A guided, 28-minute long improvisation where musical fragments are presented at certain times pre-determined by the moon’s rise/set times and tidal changes as experienced in Philadelphia starting on Nov. 4, 2023 for one cycle of the moon. The ensemble then improvises on these fragments while also coordinating with an ‘orbiting’ singer who interacts with the flutist (Chelsea) and the cellist (me) in ways meant to augment or disrupt the ensemble’s gradual, tidal unfoldings. Curated as part of Seeing the Anthropocene and in response to Austen Camille and I’s Here, twice a day, we are held by the ocean. Recording
Dinner Music | A four-movement work for cello and electronics that was written at the Pine Meadow Ranch in collaboration with chef Rebecca Sokol and Brigette McConville of Salmon King Fisheries. It was performed during a curated dinner on July 29, 2023, with each movement responding to different courses of the meal. Excerpted Recording of Salad Music
When the Cows arrived by Boat, Passenger Pigeons still traveled the Skies - is a work by Austen Camille that I wrote and recorded the music for with flutist Chelsea Meynig.
Deadflipping - an interactive art&sound installation piece made with the amazing Ana Masquera (see the 3D image below!). Currently part of the This is my Home exhibition at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. WHYY article on it.
Cosmos 5 – Water Music (1,1,1,1 1,1,1,0 harp, piano, 2 perc. 1,1,1,1,1) | Written for the Temple Composers Orchestra (12 mins.) | Premiered virtually on April 10, 2021 on the Temple Boyer youtube channel. | Recorded at the Temple Performing Arts Center, Philadelphia (March 30, 2021) under Sepehr Pirasteh. Recording
Theme and Variations on Fieldnotes – for electronics and walking artist | Written in collaboration with Austen Camille for the linokino.tv VoxPopuli Residency (6 hours) | Premiered in a six-hour live broadcast on Twitch.tv while Austen walked from the lowest to highest points in Philadelphia (Feb. 7, 2021). Recording
Excerpts from the Sea – for string trio Revised | Written for Ensemble Chartreuse (15 mins.) | Recorded and Premiered on youtube (Nov. 11, 2020) | Original version for Boston-based Sound Energy Trio (April 15, 2018). Recording
union / Community organizer
Communications Coordinator for TAUP (Sept. 2023-present)
Staff Office Organizer for TUGSA (Aug. 2021-May 2023)
Oversee all internal administrative business.
Manage TUGSA’s social media and website.
Leading the preparation of the 2021-2022 Contract Negotiation Team.
Helped lead the 2023 TUGSA Strike. We won!
Served as President of TUGSA for the 2019-2020 Academic Year.
Organized and delivered a 600+ signature petition directly to the NLRB regarding the employee status of graduate student workers.
Oversaw TUGSA’s response to COVID.
Helped raise $15,000 in direct aid for international student workers in the TUGSA bargaining unit left behind by Temple’s graduate funding model.
Served as Vice President of TUGSA for the 2018-2019 Academic Year.
Served on the Contract Negotiation Team for the 2017-18 Temple University Graduate Student Association (TUGSA AFT#6290), focusing on the wage and health insurance proposals.
Also, I led the campaign that saved the Temple University Food Trucks.