First Avenue is a trio. Bill, Matt and Bryan banded together out of a desire to perform: not so much to interpret but to engage in the spontaneous act of composition we call improvisation. Since 1982 they have refined their craft arriving at a graceful blend of the many influences of their lives and experiences as well as the culturally dynamic place they call home: New York City. Performing in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Knitting Factory, from Merkin Hall to Roulette, First Avenue is equally at home in the performance loft as on the proscenium stage. Their collaborations with writers, actors clowns, dancers and painters as well as some of the world's most noted composer/performers have given them a reputation for bold, provocative concerts. Continuing to push the envelope defining performance, the group offers audiences rich new experiences in music, sound, video, theater and spoken word. First Avenue has received numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council for the Arts supporting their New York concert series and recordings. They have recorded two CD's: Two Suns on the Newport Classics label and most recently Hocus Opus on the O.O. Discs label. They are currently ensemble-in-residence at Princeton University "Impressive virtuosity" - The Village Voice "They find both solace and adventure in floating with the unforeseen." - The New York Times "That the classical avante-garde has its own improvistation tradition is nowhere better illustrated then by the First Avenue Ensemble." - The Village Voice "Musical haiku of the highest order, evocative and surprisingly sensual." - The New Review of Records "The police should be able to burst in and haul away anyone caught doing it." - The Village Voice   Residing in Manhattan's East Village, oboist Matt Sullivan has performed as soloist on four continents, and is recognized internationally as both an important advocate for the modern oboe and an innovative teacher. As a composer and improvisor, he has created several works for oboe, English horn and digital horn which, along with chamber music and solo performances, have been featured on National Public Radio and internationally on Voice of America. Mr. Sullivan maintains an active and unusually varied performance schedule, ranging from Broadway pits to solo performances at Carnegie Hall, plus downtown avant-garde venues including Roulette, the Palladium and the Knitting Factory. He is a member of First Avenue (Ensemble-in-Residence at Princeton University), Helios, Musicians' Accord and the Queens Symphony Orchestra. He is on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, the Usdan Center for the Creative Performing Arts, Princeton University, and the European Mozart Academy in Warsaw. Sullivan has recorded for CBS Masterworks, RCA, Virgin Atlantic, New World, CRI, Opus One, Newport Classics, Mode, XLNT, and OO Discs record labels. William Kannar has served as principal bassist with the American Chamber Orchestra, Erick Hawkins Theater Orchestra, Connecticut Philharmonic and the Center for Contemporary Opera. Mr. Kannar has an active career as both an ensemble player and soloist. He has premiered works of Alan Hovhaness, Virgil Thomson, Lucia Diugoszewski and Lou Harrison. As soloist, he has appeared with North/South Consonance, Ad Hoc, the S.E.M. Ensemble and at the National Association of Composers. Mr. Kannar is also a programmer of computer music software and a partner in Hologramophone Research, a commercial software company developing unique music/visual software. Mr. Kannar has recorded for Opus One, Newport Classics, WERN, Ear-Rational, Classic Masters, North/South Consonance, and OO Discs record labels. C. Bryan Rulon received his PhD in Composition from Princeton University and his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University where he also served as Associate Instructor and Director of the Electronic Music Ensembles. Mr. Rulon has received commissions from the Helios Quartet, the Quintet of the Americas, Musician's Accord, New York New Music Ensemble, the New MilleniumEnsemble, the New York State Council on the Arts and the American Festival of Microtonal Music, among others. He is the recipient of a 1997 Chamber Music America Commission, a 1996 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 1995 Fromm Commission, a 1994 National Endowment for the Arts Composer Fellowship and the 1988 Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble's Harvey Gaul Award. In 1980, he was invited by the Polish government to present his tape composition Entropy in Warsaw. He has collaborated with many choreographers including Bill T. Jones & Arnie Zane and Leon Koening of the Dutch National Ballet. A specialist in live synthesizer performance, Mr. Rulon has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Kitchen, the Knitting Factory and Roulette among other venues.