Sput.ter: to make a series of soft explosive sounds, typically when being heated or as a system of a fault
Box.: a container, perhaps a rug
Who we are
Sputter Box is an innovative clarinet, voice, percussion ensemble based in New York City that is engaging new audiences in contemporary chamber music through their entertaining, interdisciplinary performances. While only a trio, this ensemble moves from “mindfully constructed textures that are light as a feather, and then turn on a dime to explode into something practically orchestral” (Michael Genese).
As pioneers for the unique instrumentation, they have commissioned over eighty works and have received grants from The Alice M. Ditson Fund, Chamber Music America, Harvard University FROMM Music Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Queens Arts Council to produce their concerts in New York City and the US. They were resident artists at Appalachian State University (2026), Converse University (2026), William Patterson University (2026), Emory University (2025), University of Florida (2025, 2021), UNC-Wilmington (2025), Columbus State University (2025) Princeton University (2024), and UMASS-Amherst (2020). Sputter Box was a Avaloch Farm Music Institute Artist in Residence (2026 & 2019), New Music on the Point Ensemble Fellow (2025), Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab Ensemble (2024), Kinds of Kings Bouman Fellowship Collaborating Ensemble (2022), Cortona Sessions for New Music Featured Ensemble Fellow (2020), , and they performed at the Minnesota Fringe Festival in 2021 and 2022. Sputter Box’s commitment to fun, high-quality performances brings an irresistible energy to the stage.
Sputter Box was founded by Kathryn Vetter (clarinets), Alina Tamborini (soprano), and Peter White (percussion).
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For commissions, collaborations, and other inquiries, please click here or email us at sputterboxensemble@gmail.com
our collaborators
Collaboration and community are the core of Sputter Box’s work. Our repertoire is typically influenced by contemporary classical music practices but is often guided by the strengths and backgrounds of the collaborating music and art creators.
Our first collaborations stemmed from a residency with composers Alan Hankers, Chris Lucius Newman, Joe Krycia, as well as choreographer Neil Parsons. During this residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in 2019, we collectively created three works based on sounds, movements, and theatrics through a series of experimental workshops. These works were later presented at Music for 5x8 Rug at Areté Venue and Gallery in Brooklyn. In 2020, Sputter Box performed at ShaperShifter Lab in Brooklyn, featuring a premiere by Maxime Esformes and works by Bethany Younge, Georges Aperghis, and Victor Ekimovsky.
During our 2021 residency at the University of Florida, we premiered pieces by Jordan Alexander Key, Jane Kozhevnikova, Dalton Regnier, Brendan Sweeney, and Daniel Townsend, kicking off our Winter Premieres Series.
As live music returned to New York City, in the spring of 2022 Sputter Box premiered new works by Allison McIntosh, John Ling, and Silen Wellington.
The 2022-2023 season included two concerts featuring premieres. Our Winter Premieres Series presented a Millennium Composer Initiative collaboration concert with music by Ali Balighi, Conner Shaw, Dominic Matthews, Eddie Jonathan Garcia Borbon, Dylan Tran, and Isaac J. Mayhew at Scholes Street Studio. In the spring, we premiered a piece by Daijana Wallace (composer) and Kakia Gkoudina (video artist) with two performances at Art House Astoria, supported by the Queens Arts Council New Works Fund.
The 2023-2024 season’s winter premieres concert featured a sneak preview of Noah Magnus’s evening-length work, a world premiere by Kevin Kay, and the North American premiere of music by Filippo Scaramucci. The 6th Anniversary Gala included a preview premiere by Mattia Maurée. The season concluded with premieres of music by Julia Moss and Aaron Israel Levin through The Blackbird Creative Lab hosted by Eighth Blackbird and the Yerkes Observatory.
The 2024-2025 season was filled with collaborations, starting at Princeton University as a part of our Princeton Sound Kitchen. The evening featured Gemma Peacocke’s new cantata “A Strange Power” and included pieces written for Sputter Box by Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, Kennedy Taylor Dixon, and Onche Rajesh Ugbabe. This season’s Winter Premieres concert was our ,Sputter (PLUGS IN THE) Box project which was our ensemble’s first ever concert with electronics, featuring collaborations with composers Tania Cortez, Nolan Hildebrand, and DM R. In the new year, we returned to the University of Florida premiering works by Rafael Abdalla, Angie Basara, Jane Kozhevnikova, Yimian Mi, and Yunmeng Su.
The 2025-2026 included two big collaboration projects. The first was our Winter Premieres Workshop, a new twist on our old project to allow time for audience members to be involved in the collaboration process. The concert featured workshops of pieces by David Voss, Bobby Ge, Julienne K. Tsang, and X. Lee. Later in the season, we were an Ensemble Fellow at New Music on the Point, working with Rodrigo Espino, Tee Gotsch, and Myles Kellerman on new pieces!
This season we will be working with Harriet Steinke on a new commission! We spent a week at Avaloch Farms Music Institute as Artists in Residence collaborating on this project and are eager to share more with you!
We have so many projects in the pipeline that we cannot wait to share! As always, stay tuned for next season’s premieres at upcoming concerts and engagements!
