Lowertown Listening Sessions

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Lowertown Listening Sessions invite curious listeners to enjoy adventurous sounds and insightful conversation with the music-makers of our time. Held at Studio Z, Zeitgeist’s performance space in Lowertown St. Paul, this monthly happy hour series brings guest artists from all genres of new music (jazz, classical, world music, folk, and more) for performances and informal discussion in an after-work setting with food and beverages from Lowertown eateries. 

Upcoming Sessions
Lowertown Listening Session: Scott L. Miller & Joyce Sutphen
Jan. 7, 2020  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Join Zeitgeist and special guests composer Scott L. Miller and poet Joyce Sutphen for a discussion of Miller’s new virtual reality work The Blue in the Distance featuring poetry by Sutphen and music and film inspired by Quarry Park Reserve in Waite Park, MN. 

Previous Sessions
Lowertown Listening Session: Randy Bauer
Nov. 19, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Join Zeitgeist and Studio Z Composer-in-Residence Randy Bauer for a performance and discussion of Bauer's music, including a conversation about his new work for Zeitgeist that will premiere March 6-8 at Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concert. ​
Lowertown Listening Session: Hub New Music
Oct. 24, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Join special guests Hub New Music for a performance and discussion of newly commissioned works by members of Spitting Image Collective, a Twin Cities composer collective whose members include Katherine Bergman, Joshua Clausen, and Daniel Nass. ​
Lowertown Listening Session: Andrea Mazzariello
Oct. 10, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Composer Andrea Mazzariello and pianists Matthew McCright and Michael Mizrahi present a performance and discussion on works by Mazzariello, including the premiere of As Far As You Can Stretch a Web and a never-before-heard work from 2002. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Janika Vandervelde on The Gates of Horn & Ivory
Sept. 17, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Composer Janika Vandervelde’s new work The Gates of Horn and Ivory blends live improvisation, electronic music, narration, and film in a work that explores the phenomena and practice of lucid dreaming. Join Vandervelde and Zeitgeist percussionists Heather Barringer and Patti Cudd for a discussion of how these elements work together and how they were developed throughout the past year.
Lowertown Listening Session: Zeitgeist-Composer Workshop
Aug. 8, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z  
Take a glimpse into the 2019 Zeitgeist-Composer Workshop, featuring music by composer participants Asuka Kakitani, Christopher Brakel, and Nick Gaudette (composer) and Maggie Bergeron (dance). 
Lowertown Listening Session: Mary Ellen Childs
June 18, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z  
Composer Mary Ellen Childs, along with collaborator visual artist Lindsy Halleckson, are creating a new work for Zeitgeist inspired by their fall 2018 trip to the Arctic Circle through The Arctic Circle residency program. Join us as these two artists share field recordings, video, photographs, and experiences that are the inspiration for this new concert-length work and hear Zeitgeist play several of Childs' musical sketches. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Janika Vandervelde
May 28, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z 
Composer Janika Vandervelde and Zeitgeist percussionists Heather Barringer and Patti Cudd present a preview and discussion of Vandervelde's new evening-length work for percussion and electronics exploring the world of lucid dreaming. 
Lowertown Listening Session: 113 Composers Collective
May 2, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Join Zeitgeist and members of 113 Composers Collective for performances and discussion of new works for Zeitgeist by 113 member composers Mike Duffy, Tiffany Skidmore, and others. 
Zeitgeist Early Music Workshop: Deep Listening® with Viv Corringham
April 6, 2019  •  3:30 p.m. at Studio Z
Can we listen differently to the sounds that compose our world? In this workshop heighten your awareness of the sonic environment - both external and internal - as well as your sense of experimentation, collaboration and playfulness. Based on Pauline Oliveros’s Deep Listening® practices and Sonic Meditations, this workshop is open to all with an interest in listening. No previous experience needed.
Zeitgeist Early Music Workshop: Deepening the Legacy
April 2, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Composer and licensed Deep Listening® practitioner Viv Corringham has written a new work for Zeitgeist in honor of Pauline Oliveros and the Early Music Festival. Come hear a preview of this new work, learn about Deep Listening®, and discover how Oliveros's ideas continue to influence musicians today.
Zeitgeist Early Music Workshop: Pauline Oliveros - Artist & Activist
March 26, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z  
Pauline Oliveros created work that commented on contemporary society and encouraged social change. Join us as we explore her work addressing feminism and our relationship to our environment and each other. Featuring a performance of To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation. ​
Zeitgeist Early Music Workshop: Music of Pauline Oliveros
March 19, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z 
Join Zeitgeist for an overview of the music of Pauline Oliveros. Zeitgeist and guest artists will perform and discuss several works from throughout Oliveros' career, including her speaking choir piece Sound Patterns, early electronic works, and her text-based work The Well and the Gentle. ​
Lowertown Listening Session: The Dream Songs Project
March 7, 2019  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z  
Join The Dream Songs Project (Alyssa Anderson, mezzo-soprano; Joseph Spoelstra, guitar) and composer Joshua Weinberg for a preview and discussion of a new song cycle by Weinberg. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Tiffany Skidmore
Dec. 13, 2018  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z 
Studio Z Composer-in-Residence Tiffany Skidmore discusses her work as a composer and artistic member of 113 Composers' Collective. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Mary Jane Leach on Julius Eastman
Nov. 7, 2018  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z 
Author, composer and performer Mary Jane Leach discusses her work recovering the music of Julius Eastman, creating the book Gay Guerrilla with Renee Packard, and the New York City new music scene in the late 1970s and 1980s. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Music of Alexis Lamb
Oct. 11, 2018  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z  
Join Zeitgeist and Illinois-based composer Alexis Lamb for a performance and discussion of her new composition for Zeitgeist. Lamb's new work is inspired by different regions of Minnesota and the work and life taking place in each community. 
Lowertown Listening Session: Zeitgeist Halloween Commissions
Sept. 6, 2018  •  6 p.m. at Studio Z
Join Zeitgeist, singer Alyssa Anderson, and composers Daniel Nass, Doug Opel, and Dameun Strange for a discussion on how to create music that sends shivers up your spine. 
Lowertown Listening Session Archive

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