FEmenine by Julius Eastman
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February 19, 7:00 p.m Arts on Lafond
1697 Lafond Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104 February 20, 7:00 p.m. MetroNome Brewery 385 Broadway Street; St. Paul, MN 55101 Ticket for MetroNome performances here February 27, 7:00 p.m. The Anderson Center 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN 55066 |
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Music has long provided a place for community members to share space together, celebrate, and gather strength. Zeitgeist and RenegadeEnsemble's February performance of Julius Eastman's FEMENINE will offer artists and audiences in St. Paul and Red Wing the delicious opportunity to do exactly that. Eastman's music is exuberant and life-affirming, and FEMENINE in particular delivers an experience that invigorates the ears while lifting the spirit.
We invite friends, fans, and fellow community members to bring your whole beautiful self through the door and settle in for a warm and welcoming minimalist experience. In addition to a raucously superb performance, expect treats, conversation, handshakes, and hugs. See you there, friends! About the WORK and artistsFemenine (1974) by Julius Eastman
Julius Eastman's Femenine might be the most fun with just two notes any composer has ever delivered to modern ears. Written in 1974 while Eastman was part of the Creative Associates in Buffalo, Femenine is a work of classic minimalism grounded in a popular music sensibility that was Eastman's own contribution to the movement. All of the musical material derives from a thirteen beat motive featuring only two pitches, Eb and F. This motive is stated throughout by the vibraphone, and the winds and percussion are largely responsible for developing the motive as time…lots of time…goes by. Improvisation by keyboards and bass is present throughout, and all instruments join in the romp in roughly the last third of the piece. Femenine is just over an hour long with a sleigh bell accompaniment present throughout the entire event. Julius Eastman (1940-1990) was a composer, vocalist, and pianist. He was among a small number of 20th century African American composers who found their voice through the American experimental music tradition. Highly regarded as a performer and composer, Eastman was a member of the Creative Associates at SUNY Buffalo from 1968-1975 and part of the “downtown” NYC music scene of the late 70s and 80s. He created high-powered minimalist works, and was among the first to infuse minimalism with a pop music sensibility. He made bold social statements through his compositions, addressing bigotry and non-inclusion of African Americans and LGBTQ communities with his use of provocative titles (Evil N….r, Gay Guerrilla) and unconventional performance practice. A series of misfortunes and personal struggles left Eastman homeless in the mid 1980s, with much of his music confiscated when he was evicted from his home. Eastman died in Buffalo in 1990 at age 49.
RenegadeEnsemble regularly collaborates with professional local musicians devoted to the creation and promotion of new music in the Twin Cities and beyond. Founded in 2004 as a vocal ensemble at the University of Minnesota, RenegadeEnsemble has performed a large variety of modern music, including such 20th century staples as Erik Saties’s “Vexations,” George Antheil’s “Ballet Mécanique,” Terry Riley’s “In C,” and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Stimmung” as well as new works by living composers. In 2022, RenegadeEnsemble refocused its mission towards vocal and instrumental chamber music written primarily by composers connected to Minnesota and the upper Midwest to better foster a community of local performers and audiences interested in new music. RenegadeEnsemble also organizes a concert series of new music by Minnesotans called the Vanguard New Music Series.
Cross-genre cellist Aaron Kerr has been performing for more than forty years, forging a singular voice across electric and acoustic cello. His work appears on over fifty albums nationally and internationally, earning honors and nominations from the McKnight Foundation and the Independent Music Awards. Kerr’s playing and compositions form a volatile hybrid of styles—praised as “a cross between the dissonance of modern classical music, the driving intensity of heavy metal, and the thin line between genius and madness of free-form jazz” (Tyson Allison, Emperor Penguin Records).Immersed early in rock, classical, and jazz, Kerr trained with symphonic cellists, was mentored by jazz greats, and performed continuously in bands. After studying composition, he unified these influences into a personal language. His debut solo album, Arco 71 (2006), earned McKnight Foundation recognition. Subsequent releases further refine his sharp, direct writing and unexpected intensity. His newest album, Scorpio Rising, will be released in 2025, followed by a multi-state tour.
Isaac Mayhew is a composer and trumpet player based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has collaborated with performers across the country including Zeitgeist, the Rochester New Music Ensemble, the Lawrence University Symphonic Band, the Beltline Bones, The _____ Experiment, Sputter Box, Front Porch, and the Zenith Saxophone Quartet, and more. In addition to his work as a composer, Isaac is an active performer and advocate for new music. He performs with Lemonbrass, a Twin Cities-based brass quintet dedicated to music by living Minnesota composers. As a trumpet player, he has commissioned, premiered, or recorded works by Anat Spiegel, Daniel Whitworth, Nebal Maysaud, Evan Williams, Jonathan Posthuma, Emily Boyajian, Thomas Myrmel, and Conner Leigh Shaw. Isaac holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Lawrence University, where he studied with Asha Srinivasan, Joanne Metcalf, and Benjamin Klein. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Millennium Composers Initiative and is on the boards of RenegadeEnsemble and the Minneapolis Choir Collective.
Jonathan Posthuma is a freelance composer based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His music blends lyricism, evocative imagery, and vivid emotional contrast, while maintaining clarity of form and purpose at its core.
He holds a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Stephen Dembski and Laura Schwendinger. His orchestral work Fili di Perle received Third Prize in the Karol Szymanowski International Composers Competition and was premiered in Katowice, Poland, in 2016. Other large-ensemble works include An Isthmus Aubade for wind ensemble and Concerto Grosso No. 1, commissioned by the Madison Area Youth Orchestra. In 2017, he participated in the International Workshop of Orchestral Composition at the Federal University of Paraná. Posthuma is an active member of the Twin Cities choral community, with premieres by VocalEssence and others, and currently serves as Artistic Planning Manager of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. 
Jason Wells is a full-time member of the Des Moines Symphony and the Sioux City Symphony and subs with many other groups such as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Duluth Superior Symphony and the South Dakota Symphony. He is also an avid teacher and does everything from private bass instruction to group workshops and coaching sessions at various middle and high schools throughout the Twin Cities and the Des Moines metro areas. Jason is also an in-demand bass player outside of the classical music world and has toured the country playing various styles such as jazz, tango, folk, country and R&B.Jason graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy with a focus in music, then went on to DePaul University where he studied double bass performance with Robert Kassinger of the Chicago Symphony.
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.
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