Biography
Ostraka refers to at least two artists:
1. Ancient music collective Ostraka was founded in 2005 by viol virtuoso Josh Lee. Ostraka has been described as "an utter intellectual and aural delight." Joined by skilled lutenists John Lenti and David Walker, the trio explores the oft-ignored repertoire of the renaissance and baroque, bringing a dynamic virtuosity to their performances. Performing on instruments usually relegated to supporting roles (bass viol, theorbos, lutes and period guitars), the three met while drinking whisky and playing old time music on a night off during the Bloomington Early Music Festival. The trio of southerners immediately sensed a common musical vocabulary that has only intensified as they moved from the jam session and into explorations of early music.
2. Ostraka emerged after John Keston (Keston and Westdal) spent months posting daily audio studies on the experimental music and sound design site AudioCookbook.org. Under his Ostraka moniker, this United Kingdom transplant turned Minnesota local creates music by harnessing the stochastic behaviors of sound objects and electronics into enigmatic compositions that bind chaotic creativity into musical structures.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
