F-PLUS is a violin, clarinet, and percussion trio committed to collaborating with today's most exciting composers to establish a diverse repertoire for their unique instrumentation. Formed in 2016 at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, the ensemble has performed all over the country, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Ear Taxi Festival, the International Clarinet Association "ClarinetFest," and the New Music Gathering. F-PLUS has premiered over 35 new works since its inception, including commissioned works by Chen Yi, Chicago Symphony Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery, Grawemeyer-winner George Tsontakis, Emma O'Halloran, Gemma Peacocke, Perry Goldstein, Matthew Ricketts, and Charles Peck, among many others. The ensembled has been the recipient of commissioning grants and additional funding from the Fromm Foundation, Chamber Music America, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, New Music USA, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Irish Arts Council and the New Zealand Arts Council. F-PLUS is committed to working with the next generation of composers and performers, and has held residencies at Princeton University, the University of Delaware, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Washington University (St. Louis), University of Texas-Austin, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, UNC-Pembroke, UNC-Wilmington, and Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Stony Brook, Duke, and Illinois State Universities.
Regarded as an “inventive conversationalist” (Chicago Classical Review) on her instrument, violinist Hannah Christiansen has performed with groups including Ensemble Dal Niente, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra (Belfast, NI) and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Hannah’s particular interest in nonstandard notation and extended technique has led her to hold positions as Artist in Residence at Northwestern University and Roosevelt University; she has also guest lectured on extended techniques for the violin at the University of Chicago. With percussionist Joe Bricker (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), Hannah designed and runs From Scratch, an education program to introduce young musicians to contemporary music early in their careers. Hannah holds a degree in French Language and Literature from Oberlin College in addition to her violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, and DePaul University, and her major teachers are Milan Vitek, Gerardo Ribeiro, and Janet Sung.
Praised as "beguiling" (Chicago Tribune) and a "superb performer" (Chicago Classical Review), percussionist Josh Graham has had the the pleasure of performing throughout the United States and Canada. He currently serves as Instructor of Percussion at the University of Northern Iowa, and is also percussionist with F-PLUS (fplusmusic.com) and the Zafa Collective (zafacollective.com).
Josh has performed with groups and artists such as Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Ensemble Dal Niente, ~Nois Saxophone Ensemble, the Sinta Quartet, the Orion Ensemble, Lakeshore Rush, as well as with members of the Emerson Quartet, Silk Road Ensemble, Detroit Symphony, eighth blackbird, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Committed to serving the next generation as an educator, Josh has previously taught courses at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan and served on the faculty of Triton College, Roosevelt University, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He has also had the honor of giving percussion master classes and holding residencies with composition students at universities throughout the country.
Josh holds degrees from Central Michigan University (BM), The University of Michigan (MM), and the University of Illinois (DMA). He is proud to endorse Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Marimba One instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Swamp Percussion Instruments.
Gregory Oakes is an exciting and energetic clarinetist performer and a passionate champion of the music of our time. From his Carnegie Hall debut with members of Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez to his performances as a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Oakes has been praised by critics for his “outstanding performance” (New York Times) and “jazzy flourishes” (Denver Post). His performance highlights include a concerto with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Telluride Jazz Festival with Grammy® Award-winner Terence Blanchard, a concert at Amsterdam’s venerable new music hall De IJsbreker, and a solo feature at Berlin’s prestigious MaerzMusik festival. Oakes has performed at multiple International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, the New Music Gathering, and the International Computer Music Conference. He has performed throughout the United States, Brazil, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Thailand. He has held residencies at Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Aspen, and Amsterdam's STEIM. His CD Aesthetic Apparatus: Clarinet Chamber Music of Helmut Lachenmann appears on the New Focus Recordings label. His other recordings appear on Bridge, Centaur, CRI, Gothic, Karnatic Lab Records, and Naxos and broadcasts on National Public Radio. Oakes is on the faculty of Iowa State University and is principal clarinet of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. He is a Buffet Group USA and Vandoren Performing Artist.