So Percussion celebrates Cage w/ "Bootleg Series" album and tour

By -

CAGE 100: THE BOOTLEG SERIES ISSUED MARCH 27 ON CANTALOUPE
CAGE-THEMED PROGRAM IN CAMBRIDGE, TORONTO, + AUSTIN, ARRIVING AT ZANKEL HALL ON MARCH 26

No leading ensemble better embodies the fearless, trailblazing spirit of John Cage than Sō Percussion. In honor of Cage’s centenary year, Sō Percussion is touring a program titled We Are All Going in Different Directions to Cambridge (MA), Toronto, and Austin, culminating in an appearance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Monday, March 26 (7:30 pm), as part of the American Mavericks series. Along with classic Cage scores like Credo in Us, Imaginary Landscape #1, and Third Construction, We Are All Going in Different Directions features original compositions by the group, plus contributions by electronic artists Matmos, Cenk Ergün, and Dan Deacon. Matmos, Ergün, and violist Beth Meyers (janus trio and QQQ) will perform with the quartet. Program details and tour dates follow.

Given Cage’s use of indeterminacy in this program, every concert will be different. Fittingly, Sō Percussion is documenting these tour performances with a specially-packaged, limited-edition album, Cage 100: The Bootleg Series, released Tuesday, March 27 on Cantaloupe. Only 300 copies are being made. Each is numbered and includes a unique, handmade cover; a blank LP (in a nod to Cage’s 4’33”); a I Ching-inspired 64-minute CD sampler, with tracks chosen by chance operations; and a download card giving access to complete shows. Along with the hybrid physical product being created for The Bootleg Series, Cantaloupe will be releasing unique mixes of material from these concerts as iTunes and eMusic Exclusives, also on March 27.

Sō Percussion consists of Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinksi, and Jason Treuting. Speaking for the group, Sliwinski said, “John Cage’s artistic legacy is formidable. His innovations and accomplishments are truly staggering: He wrote some the first electric/acoustic hybrid music, the first significant body of percussion music, the first music for turntables, invented the prepared piano, and had a huge impact in the fields of dance, visual art, theater, and critical theory.

“Somehow Cage’s prolific output seems not to stifle, but rather to spur creativity in others. He certainly deserves surveys, tributes, and concert portraits during the centenary of his birth. But Sō Percussion wanted to do him honor by allowing his work and spirit to infuse our own.

“We have chosen some of our favorite Cage pieces to present on this celebration concert. We believe that although they are historical in fact, each is stunningly present and even prophetic. The pieces are woven in with new music: some by our close friends, and some of our own creation.” The tour for We Are All Going in Different Directions began in Cambridge on February 9, and continues to the following cities:

March 2: The Royal Conservatory, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

March 6 + 7: The McCullough Theatre, University of Texas, Austin

March 26: Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, NYC

In addition, So Percussion will perform Cage’s Third Construction in programs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee (Feb. 28), and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin (March 10). For further information, visit sopercussion.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more