Neonautica
Neonautica is an avant-pop duo making voice/saxophone/electronic sound worlds that are ancient and futuristic, funky and fragile. Singer Megan Ihnen & saxophonist Alan Theisen combine experimental music, multiple pop genres, and theatre. With influences ranging from Björk to Sun Ra to CloZee to Ligeti, Neonautica performances have been praised as “a fresh look at what it means to be artists in the 21st century.” Microtones, hip hop beats, prog rock, jazz, silences, heavy metal - anything is possible at a Neonautica show.
“Voice, saxophone, and electronics mesh art song with synth pop, blurring the lines of genre or perhaps shrugging off those confines entirely.”
The duo (formerly known as MIATp) has performed at festivals and venues across the United States including Oh My Ears Festival (Phoenix), NEXTET contemporary music series (Las Vegas), Zeitgeist Halloween Festival (St. Paul), the U.S. Navy International Saxophone Symposium (Virginia), the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival, and more. Neonautica has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists such as composer/producer/guitarist Andrew Rodriguez (Close Your Eyes), singer/songwriter/actress Gelsey Bell (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), composer Jennifer Bellor, performer/video artist Nick Zoulek (Rushing Past Willow), composer Neil Anderson-Himmelspach, and saxophonist Scott Johnson (Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra).
Through NewMusicShelf, the members of Neonautica individually published their Anthology of New Music for Mezzo-Soprano, Vol. 1 and Anthology of New Music for Alto Saxophone, Vol. 1. Neonautica is a partnered ensemble with ADJ•ective Composers’ Collective as well as a fiscally sponsored project of Bang on a Can.
Both team members possess a wide array of skills: Ihnen is a mezzo-soprano force of nature with experience in music entrepreneurship, creative placemaking, and audience development while Theisen is an active multi-genre composer, arranger, and author in addition to his career as performer.
“From the first note to the last, Megan Ihnen and Alan Theisen suspend time and transport their audiences into a new enrapturing world.”
“Ihnen & Theisen... are particularly gifted at their craft.”
“Megan Ihnen and Alan Theisen demonstrate synergy and a deep musicality together... it was difficult to differentiate where the voice began and the sax ended - they played as one instrument, breathing in and out of one another’s phrases... These two have a lot of music to share together...”