by N
1 - First off, so excited to have John Dubberstein, sitar player extraordinaire, playing this year with his Clear Light Ensemble. This raga-based world jazz group has sculpted an ever-changing landscape of sonic possibilities over the past decade and we're thrilled to have them performing the Cage piece and a couple of their own compositions. Additional personnel are as follows: David Rothenberg , clarinet; Craig Hazen, bass; Ami fixler, percussion.
Also, a super duper big thanks to Kay Larson, who will speak on Cage's role in the creation of post-modernism. Kay has spoken a couple of times before and is always entertaining and illuminating.
Also, a super duper big thanks to Kay Larson, who will speak on Cage's role in the creation of post-modernism. Kay has spoken a couple of times before and is always entertaining and illuminating.
4'33" - Here's the piece, with a short introduction, being performed in England.
Popout
A - The Wikipedia entry on anechoic chambers.
B - Berger, Karl. Performed 4'33" at the 60th anniversary performance in 2012 at WAAM. Winner of 6, count 'em! 6 Downbeat Critics Awards for his performing, Karl Berger is an award-winning composer/arranger whose scores for film and tv have won broad critical acclaim. He has written and recorded over 200 compositions and arrangements for classical ensembles, jazz groups, songwriters and performers, big bands, symphony and crossover projects. Read more about him at the bottom of this page or here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Berger
C - Cage. John Cage. See John Cage.
C - Clear Light Ensemble. A raga-based world jazz ensemble held together loosely by John Dubberstein. More information will be forthcoming soon!
C - Creative Music Studio. Founded by Karl Berger, Ornette Coleman and Ingrid Sertso, John Cage was on the initial advisory council Read more about it here: http://www.CreativeMusicStudio.org/
D - Date and time and all that. August 29, 2015. Woodstock Artists Association Museum. Right in the middle of Woodstock, NY. 6:00pm sharp. Should be done by 6:45 (see the second entry for "P" for more information.) WAAM is at 28 Tinker St, Woodstock, NY 12498
(845) 679-2940 Free admission.
D - Dubberstein. John Dubberstein. Sitar player, golfer and glue for the Clear Light Ensemble. More on him soon hopefully.
(845) 679-2940 Free admission.
D - Dubberstein. John Dubberstein. Sitar player, golfer and glue for the Clear Light Ensemble. More on him soon hopefully.
E - Everything. And nothing. See here.
G - Gann. Kyle Gann. Who literally wrote the book on 4'33" and is hopefully going to come answer some questions after the performance. Wow. What a treat. (See "K")
G - Goese. Mimi Goese. Performed the piece in 2011 with Ben Neill. Killed. Here's her Wikipedia page, and here's a little blurb about her from her cd release press release: Goese is known as the lead singer/co-songwriter of Hugo Largo, the critically acclaimed minimalist punk/pop group who released two albums on Brian Eno’s Opal label in the ’80s. After touring with musician/producer Hector Zazou and co-writing/singing on the Moby album Everything is Wrong, Goese’s solo album Soak was released by Luaka Bop, David Byrne’s label.
H - Hersey. Baird Hersey. Read about this man's incredible musical career on his website here: http://bairdhersey.com/
I - Ink. A nice article in the Woodstock Times by Paul Smart on last year's performance of 4'33.
K - A really nice video about 4'33" with Kyle Gann:
K - Kay Larson. See Larson, Kay.
L - Larson, Kay. from her HuffPo bio: An acclaimed art critic, columnist, and editor, Kay Larson began her career in journalism in Cambridge, Massachusetts at The Real Paper, then served as an associate editor at Artnews and an art critic for the Village Voice. She was the art critic for New York Magazine for 14 years, and has been a frequent contributor toThe New York Times. In 1994, she entered Zen practice at a Buddhist monastery in upstate New York. We are thrilled that she's agreed to speak at the concert. Please scroll down to "W" to read about her new book on Cage or click here to read a wonderful recent article she wrote on Cage and Buddhism for the Huffington Post. Also, click here for an excerpt from her delightful biography about Cage, Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists.
L - A nice essay I found online by Larry J. Solomon about 4'33" can be read here.
M - Magnusson. Norm Magnusson. Producer. Impresario, artist, advertising curmudgeon, and founder of the art movement funism.
M - McMahon. Paul McMahon. American artist and musician. Woodstock luminary. 2013 marked his debut performing 4'33". More on Paul can be read and listened to here.
M - Montano. Linda Mary Montano is a pioneer in performance art. Since the 1960’s, she has explored how artistic ritual, often staged as individual interactions or collaborative workshops, can be used to enhance a person's daily life, to create the opportunity for attentional spiritual energy states, to encourage inner silence and to alter the cessation of art/life boundaries. She accompanied Paul McMahon at 2013's performance.
N - Neill. Ben Neill. Ben teaches 4'33" in one of his classes at Ramapo College in NJ. He has performed a number of Cage's pieces and has worked with him directly. Here is Ben's wikipedia page and here is a short blurb about him from the press release for his new cd, a collaboration with his co-performer Mimi Goese:
Neill is a composer, performer, producer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. He has recorded eight CDs of his music on labels including Universal/Verve, Thirsty Ear, Astralwerks and Six Degrees. His most recent CD Night Science was released in 2009 on Thirsty Ear.
P - PRANA. This wonderful group performed at 2014's concert. Special thanks to Bruce Milner for the introduction and Baird Hersey for the organization. PRANA are: Amy Fradon, Soprano; Kirsti Gholson, Alto; Baird Hersey, Tenor; Timothy Hill, Bariton; and Bruce Milner, Bass. Read more about this remarkable group on its website here: http://www.pranasound.com/
P - Program from the first performance of 4'33", which took place in Woodstock, NY, 1952, presented by the Woodstock Artist's Association.
P - The program for this performance: (to be updated soon)
R - Rauschenberg. Robert Rauschenberg, whose "White Painting (Three Panel)" (from the collection of SFMoMA) was a major influence on Cage's decision to compose 4'33" and perhaps on his decision to give his piece 3 movements.
R - Rothenberg. David Rothenberg, playing this year with the Clear Light Ensemble, has performed and recorded on clarinet with Pauline Oliveros, Peter Gabriel, and many others. He has sixteen CDs out under his own name, including "On the Cliffs of the Heart," named one of the top ten releases of 1995 by Jazziz magazine and is the author of Why Birds Sing, book and CD, published in seven languages and the subject of a BBC television documentary. He is also the author of numerous other books on music, art, and nature, including Thousand Mile Song, about making music with whales, and Survival of the Beautiful, about aesthetics in evolution. His book and CD Bug Music, featuring the sounds of the entomological world, has been featured on PBS News Hour and in the New Yorker. His latest recordings are Cicada Dream Band and Berlin Bülbül. Rothenberg is professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. More information can be found on his website: www.davidrothenberg.net
S - Silence. A short video by Maestro Cage on this topic.
T- Tacet. Say no more.
V- VanTieghen. David VanTieghem, musician and composer and the first guy I ever saw perform 4'33" We owe this all to him. Visit his website here: http://www.vantieghem.com/
V - A very informative smattering of reviews for Kyle Gann's book on 4'33" There's no such thing as silence.
W - Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists. A recent book written by Kay Larson.
W - The Woodstock Artist's Association. You can find out more about this fine organization on their website,http://www.woodstockart.org/
