Other Minds Presents Mavericks 250: David Tudor and Alexander Reinagle

OTHER MINDS PRESENTS A NEW SERIES IN CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL:

MAVERICKS 250
TWO EVENTS AT MILLS/NORTHEASTERN, OAKLAND

A DAVID TUDOR CENTENNIAL
COMPOSERS INSIDE ELECTRONICS
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026 AT 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 2026 AT 1:00 PM & 7:30 PM

ALEXANDER REINAGLE:
COMPOSING A NEW NATION
STEPHEN SIEK, PIANO & FORTEPIANO
MONDAY, JULY 20, 2026 AT 7:30 PM

 

SAN FRANCISCO—April 9, 2026—Other Minds holds certain truths to be self-evident—what better way to celebrate the American semiquincentennial than with two summer concerts featuring Maverick American Composers from distinct eras of musical history? Live electronics pioneer David Tudor (1926–1996) will be familiar to many Other Minds, but we’re ecstatic to also feature a Maverick less well known: the Federalist era’s Alexander Reinagle (1756–1809), friend of C.P.E. Bach, and George Washington’s favorite composer. All events will take place at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland. These events are presented in cooperation with the Center for Contemporary Music, Northeastern University and Mills Performing Arts.

For the first event of Mavericks 250, Other Minds welcomes Composers Inside Electronics to perform works by David Tudor (1926–1996) in celebration of his centennial. This event takes place over two evening concerts (June 26th and 27th at 7:30 PM), as well as an afternoon discussion/demonstration of some of the techniques behind Tudor’s experiments with electronics (June 27th at 1:00 PM). David Tudor is, perhaps, most famously known as part and principal interpreter of the New York School—John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown, and Christian Wolff. With Cage, in the early 1960s, Tudor also began to pioneer the use of live electronics in performance, as opposed to exclusively on recordings. To further this practice, Tudor formed Composers Inside Electronics in 1973, active first between 1976 and 1981 and then reformed in 1996 for Tudor’s memorial service. Current members include John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, Tom Hamilton, Matt Rogalsky, and Doug Van Nort. Over two evening they will be performing 5 works by David Tudor using many of his original electronic instruments: Pepscillator, Forest Speech, Untitled, Microphone, Pulsers. Speaking in Tongues, by Composers Inside Electronics member John Driscoll, will also be performed. During the Saturday afternoon workshop, Composers Inside Electronics will discuss and demonstrate Microphone, Pulsers, and John Driscoll’s Speaking in Tongues for audience members.

On the occasion of the 240th anniversary of his first concert in The New World, on Monday, July 20th, at 7:30 PM, Other Minds will spotlight the Federalist era’s Alexander Reinagle (1756–1809). Presenting Reinagle’s work on both piano, as well as the more historically appropriate fortepiano, will be Stephen Siek, whose recording of the Philadelphia Sonatas remains the gold standard. Siek will also present commentary on the work as well as a lecture with projections illustrating the life and work of the composer. The repertoire will include Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Sonata No. 2 in E Major, Variations on Lea Rigg, and Variations on Steer Her Up and Had Her Gawn. Alexander Reinagle was born in Edinburgh and emigrated to America in 1786. He soon established himself as Philadelphia’s most renowned musician, and after George Washington heard him at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Washington engaged him to give piano lessons to Martha’s granddaughter, Nelly Custis. Nelly was ten when she began her instruction in 1789, and within a few years, Reinagle had completed several large Sonatas for the piano which are today known as the Philadelphia Sonatas. Although they were not published till long after his death, he performed them frequently at public concerts, and today they are regarded as the most significant keyboard music composed in Early America.

A David Tudor Centennial will be held at 7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday June 26th and June 27th, 2026 and at 1:00 pm on June 27th, 2026 at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern in Oakland. Tickets are available at a sliding scale starting at $23 for the evening concerts. The afternoon workshop is free with an RSVP.

Alexander Reinagle: Composing a New Nation will be held at 7:30 pm on Monday, July 20th, 2026 at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern in Oakland. Tickets are available at a sliding scale starting at $23.

 

CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

A David Tudor Centennial
Composers Inside Electronics
Friday June 26, 2026 @ 7:30pm (concert)
Saturday June 27, 2026 @ 1:00pm (workshop)
Saturday June 27, 2026 @ 7:30pm (concert)
Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern University (Richards Rd, Oakland, CA 94613)
Tickets on Sale NOW
Tickets from $23

PROGRAM

Friday June 26 (evening)

David Tudor
Pepscillator
Forest Speech
Untitled

Saturday June 27 (afternoon)

Discussion/Demonstrations of David Tudor’s Microphone and Pulsers, and John Driscoll’s Speaking in Tongues.

Saturday June 27 (evening)

David Tudor
Microphone
Pulsers

John Driscoll
Speaking in Tongues

Alexander Reinagle: Composing a New Nation
Stephen Siek, piano and fortepiano
Monday, July 20, 2026 @ 7:30pm
Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College at Northeastern University (Richards Rd, Oakland, CA 94613)
Tickets on Sale NOW
Tickets from $23

PROGRAM

Alexander Reinagle
Sonata No. 3 in C Major
Sonata No. 2 in E Major
Variations on Lea Rigg
Variations on Steer Her Up and Had Her Gawn

The Lea-Rig (1792) by Robert Burns
When o’er the hill the eastern star
Tells bughtin-time is near, my jo,
And owsen frae the furrow’d field
Return sae dowf and weary O;
Down by the burn where scented birks
Wi’ dew are hangin clear, my jo,
I’ll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

At midnight hour, in mirkest glen,
I’d rove and ne’er be irie O,
If thro’ that glen I gaed to thee,
My ain kind Dearie O:
Altho’ the night were ne’er sae wet,
And I were ne’er sae weary O,
I’ll meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.

The hunter lo’es the morning sun;
To rouse the mountain deer, my jo;
At noon the fisher seeks the glen,
Adown the burn to steer, my jo:
Gie me the hour o’ gloamin grey,
It maks my heart sae cheary O
To meet thee on the lea-rig,
My ain kind Dearie O.