ARC Orchestra: Ensemble Mik Nawooj

You heard that right: hip-hop, rap, trombone.

Led by composer/pianist JooWan Kim, EMN creates Meta Music by sampling principles of hip-hop and classical. Executed with MC/lyricist Sandman, a lyric soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, drums and bass, the music is rigorous, nuanced, and accessible.

The sound relies on Method Sampling, a principle of borrowing or sampling of rationales from related as well as unrelated fields, then reframing them into one’s own system.

In 2010, JooWan Kim recruited his best friend from college, Christopher Nicholas to push the project forward in a serious way. Since then, EMN attracted some of the most excellent classical musicians and MCs in the SF Bay Area while gaining national attention from outlets such as ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, NPR, Pitchfork, Upworthy, NowThis, and more.