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In this September 2011 issue:
1. Something Else // recap
2. Steve Reich turns 75, and 16 hours of Words on radiOM.org
3. Special Offer: 20% off Thingamajigs, courtesy Harry Partch
4. Eventwire: SFCMP plays John Luther Adams
5. Eventwire: Chamber Music Day
1. Something Else // recap
Last week, Other Minds hosted a three-day celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Fluxus.
Through film screenings, a radio special, and Saturday evening's performances, Something Else traced the history of Fluxus from John Cage's classes at the New School to works by guest artists Alison Knowles and Yoshi Wada (above: Wada's Sound Store/Store Sound panel), new methods pioneered by Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman, and the worldwide spread of Fluxus, to artists like Germany's Tomas Schmit (1943-2006) and Danish composer Henning Christiansen (1932-2008).
At the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on Thursday, audiences were thrilled to see Knowles with her daughter, the Fluxus scholar Hannah Higgins. The two also performed together on Saturday at SOMArts Cultural Center in the hybrid lecture-performance Fluxus With Tools, re-enacting and simultaneously discussing a bevy of well-known Fluxus works, including Knowles's Proposition No. 2: Make a salad.
Saturday also included a number of short works, such as Yoko Ono's Lighting Piece, performed by Adam Overton (above).
Luciano Chessa appeared in works by Ono, Dick Higgins, and George Maciunas (above).
Other Minds would like to extend special thanks to Peter Esmonde, Jim Newman and Jane Ivory. Photos by Allan Cronin.
Listen to the radio special hosted by Charles Amirkhanian
Download the printed program as a PDF
Read the review in San Francisco Classical Voice
2. Steve Reich turns 75, and 16 hours of Words on radiOM.org
Happy birthday to Steve Reich, who turns 75 on October 3!
Speaking of Music: An Evening With Steve Reich (1985)
On October 3, 1985, composer Steve Reich celebrated his 49th birthday by appearing at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, as the featured guest on the San Francisco Exploratorium's Speaking of Music series. He discussed his career and compositional style with host Charles Amirkhanian and presented excerpts from his Music for 18 Musicians, and Tehillim. However most of the program was devoted to his then recently completed orchestral piece, Desert Music, which is a setting of the poetry of William Carlos Williams. Reich goes into great detail about the structure of the piece and how it was recorded, as well as answering questions from the audience.
As the Bay Area gears up for Litquake, its largest annual literary festival (October 7-15), Other Minds is proud to announce the availability of the historic Words series, from 1969. This set of programs, produced by Clark Coolidge, features works of late 20th-Century poets, sound poets and authors. The list includes OM alums Alvin Curran (OM 7) and Charles Amirkhanian (OM 11), well-known writers John Ashbery and Bill Berkson, and experimental figures including John Giorno and Vito Acconci. Feast your ears on hours of readings and recordings:
1. Clark Coolidge
2. Tom Clark and Ron Padgett
3. Ted Berrigan
4. Tom Veitch
5. Clark Coolidge (coming soon)
6. John Payne
7. Alvin Curran
8. Larry Fagin
9. Lewis MacAdams
10. John Perreault
11. Clark Coolidge
12. Vito Acconci
13. John Giorno
14. Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett
15. Philiip Whalen and Bill Berkson
16. John Ashbery
17. Charles Amirkhanian
Note: Some programs may contain profanity.
3. Special Offer: 20% off Thingamajigs, courtesy Harry Partch
Music for People & Thingamajigs Festival
Thursday-Saturday, September 22-24, 8pm
Meridian Gallery, San Francisco (last night)
Vessel Gallery, Oakland
Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland
SPECIAL OFFER: 20% off tickets, use code "Harry Partch"
The Music For People & Thingamajigs Festival returns for its 14th edition of experimental music that incorporates made/found instruments and alternate tuning systems. This year's event features 10 artists in projects including Tim Phillips's Bubble Organ instrument, sound sculptures for repurposed vintage typewriters (by Tracey Cockrell) and new works for microtonal sixth-tone scale guitar by Lewis Krauthamer.
4. Eventwire: SFCMP plays John Luther Adams
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Monday, October 3, 8pm
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
SFCMP kicks off its first season under Artistic Director Steve Schick with a varied program including Octandre, a short percussion solo by Josh Levine, and John Luther Adams's (OM 11) tour-de-force composition for seventeen musicians, Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (some samples available here).
5. Eventwire: Chamber Music Day
Chamber Music Day
Sunday, October 16, 10am-5:30pm
de Young Museum, San Francisco
SF Friends of Chamber Music presents a full day showcasing chamber music in a variety of forms. This year's event takes over the de Young Museum, with over thirty ensembles performing on two main stages and throughout other parts of the museum, plus hands-on opportunities hosted by Outsound, Thingamajigs, and Magik*Magik Orchestra. Audiences of all persuasions come together to enjoy 30-minute sets from the Nils Bultmann Duo, Classical Revolution, Del Sol String Quartet, Lisa Mezzacappa's Bait & Switch, Real Vocal String Quartet, Rootstock Percussion, sfSound, and many others. Curated by Renee Baldocchi (de Young), Katherine Bukstein (SFFCM), Kevin Chen (Intersection for the Arts), and Adam Fong (Other Minds).
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