A co-production of Zeitgeist and 113 Composers Collective, the 2022 Early Music Festival explores the powerful contributions of our musical pioneers with a celebration of composer Alvin Lucier. Since the 1960s, Lucier's work has reshaped the way we think about sound with music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception.
SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 17 6:00pm Tiffany Skidmore presents a talk on the music of Alvin Lucier 7:30pm Works by Alvin Lucier: Broken Lines, Silver Streetcar, Opera with Objects, Theme, The Sacred Fox, In Memoriam Jon Higgins Friday, Nov. 18 7:30pm Works by Alvin Lucier: Nothing is Real, Two Circles, Heavier than Air, Performing Emily Dickinson, Letters Saturday, Nov. 19 7:30pm Works by Alvin Lucier: Six Geometries, Ricochet Lady, Intervals, I am Sitting in a Room 10:00 pm Screening of No Ideas But in Things: The composer Alvin Lucier A film by Viola Rusche and Hauke Harder Sunday, Nov. 20 1:00 pm (Concert curated by Kyle Hutchins) Works by Alvin Lucier: Bone Moon*, Flight Paths*, Music for Violin and Alto Saxophone, Memory Space * Indicates North American premiere Festival Performers: Zeitgeist (Heather Barringer, Patti Cudd, Nicola Melville, Pat O'Keefe), Mike Duffy, Tiffany Skidmore, Joey Crane, Michelle Kinney, Laura Harada, Kyle Hutchins, Walt Skidmore, Alyssa Anderson, Willow Skidmore, Justin Spenner, Adam Zahller, Charlie Gannon, and others. INSTALLATIONS
Music on a Long Thin Wire Sound installation for audio oscillator and electronic monochord Installed inside Studio Z for the duration of the festival Music for Pure Waves, Bass Drums, and Acoustic Pendulums Sound installation for slow sweep oscillator, loudspeakers, bass drums, and suspended ping pong balls Installed on the 2nd floor of the Northwester Building where Studio Z is located for the duration of the festival ONLINE PROGRAMMING
Gentle Fire: Zeitgeist and 113 Composers Collective have invited electronic sound artists to create realizations of Lucier's work Gentle Fire, written for synthesizer operators/sound creators. Click here to listen! Professor Lucier: Alvin Lucier the Teacher: Students of Alvin Lucier from Wesleyan University reflect on their experiences learning from the composer.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Alvin Lucier (1931-2021) was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was educated in Nashua public and parochial schools, the Portsmouth Abbey School, Yale, and Brandeis and spent two years in Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship. From 1962 to 1970 he taught at Brandeis, where he conducted the Brandeis University Chamber Chorus which devoted much of its time to the performance of new music. Since 1970 he has taught at Wesleyan University where he is John Spencer Camp Professor of Music. Lucier has pioneered in many areas of music composition and performance, including the notation of performers' physical gestures, the use of brain waves in live performance, the generation of visual imagery by sound in vibrating media, and the evocation of room acoustics for musical purposes. His recent works include a series of sound installations and works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, and orchestra in which, by means of close tunings with pure tones, sound waves are caused to spin through space.
Mr. Lucier performs, lectures and exhibits his sound installations extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia. He has visited Japan twice: in 1988 he performed at the Abiko Festival, Tokyo, and installed MUSIC ON A LONG THIN WIRE in Kyoto; in 1992 he toured with pianist Aki Takahashi, performing in Kawasaki, Yamaguchi and Yokohama. In 1990-91 he was a guest of the DAAD Kunstler Program in Berlin. In January 1992, he performed in Delhi, Madras, and Bombay, and during the summer of that year was guest composer at the Time of Music Festival in Vitaasari, Finland. He regularly contributes articles to books and periodicals. His own book, Chambers, written in collaboration with Douglas Simon, was published by the Wesleyan University Press. In addition, several of his works are available on Cramps (Italy), Disques Montaigne, Source, Mainstream, CBS Odyssey, Nonesuch, and Lovely Music Records. A collection of composers and performers of new music, 113 Composers Collective produces concerts, seminars, and master classes throughout the Twin Cities. Since its inception in 2012, the group has presented over 200 world premieres and worked with composers and performers such as Anthony Cheung, Chaya Czernowin, James Dillon, Julio Estrada, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Pisaro, Collect/Project, Duo Gelland, Ensemble Dal Niente, Fonema Consort, Marcelo Rilla, Bill Solomon, Strains New Music Ensemble, and dozens of local musicians of the highest caliber.
Tickets can be securely purchased by credit card or through your PayPal account in advance, or by cash, check, or credit card at the door. Tickets purchased online will be held at the door. Please consider adding a $5 donation to Studio Z with your ticket purchase. Your donation supports the operation of Studio Z and keeps it an affordable venue for artists and presenters in the Twin Cities. Studio Z is owned and operated by Zeitgeist, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the music of our time. |