Category: Field Reports

Tony Conrad

Along with the nice weather, the month of May brings those final exams one step closer, makes graduation seem like it might actually happen, and, of course, provides tons of concerts to distract all you students and non-matriculating music-lovers from your daily grind. If the day-to-day is really starting to get to you, here’s a good way to blow off some stream: The No Fun Fest offers a smorgasbord of noise outfits and hardcore racket at deafening decibel levels to New York City’s Knitting Factory (May 16 – 18 info) Scream as loud as you want—nobody will hear you. Some standouts in this year’s line-up include Tony Conrad, Thurston Moore, Illusion of Safety, The Haters, Randy Yau, Damion Romero, Alan Licht, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Go forth and bring earplugs.

If for some reason you prefer that your clangorous activities come with a large price tag, check out this benefit party for the Seattle Art Museum featuring a performance of Glenn Branca’s Hallucination City for 100 guitars (May 16 info). Those who wish to circumvent the $175 admission price can probably swing free entry by volunteering their electric guitar prowess—with so many slots to fill, hopefully it’s not too much to ask for them to throw in a drink ticket as well.

If the din of a hundred guitars isn’t exactly your cup of tea, get all the drama you crave with a whole bunch of new American opera. Every year New York City Opera’s Vox festival treats us to small doses drawn from a handful of new operas, as well as a few panel discussions, a post-concert reception—the whole nine yards (May 10 – 11 info). This year’s Vox offerings include new works by Alice Shields, Justine Chen, Scott Davenport Richards, John King, Steve Potter, Cary Ratcliff, Sorrel Hays, Veronika Krausas, Robert Manno, and David T. Little. If you want to see David T. Little’s entire opera, called Solder Songs, head to Houston, Texas, where Opera Vista performs a fully staged version alongside R. Timothy Brady’s opera Edalat Square (May 31 info).

Martin Dosh

The Walker Art Center is honoring a Minneapolis local with a portrait concert (May 3 info). If you don’t know Martin Dosh’s music, familiarize. His work reflects the post-convergent attitude adopted by many young music-makers; meaning the music is impossible to classify stylistically because its influences are so inclusive and disparate. Do expect some altered Fender Rhodes and old, cheesy synths somewhere in the mix. Musicians Andrew Bird, Jel, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Andrew Broder, Mike Lewis, and others are expected to join Dosh on stage.

If you’ve been dying to hear those wonky organ pipes, installed in L.A.’s Disney Concert Hall as if they were modern sculpture, now is your chance. Terry Riley takes the driver’s seat for a solo organ recital featuring some new compositions by the composer-performer (May 25 info). The big question that will soon be answered: How’s Terry’s footwork? A stone’s throw away in the San Fernando Valley, Glendale to be precise, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra premieres a new piano concerto by composer Kevin Puts (May 17 – 18 info). Heads up—the new piece gets the Handel-Beethoven sandwich treatment, so be prepared.

Battles

There are a lot of heavy-hitting improvisers migrating up north to invade Victoriaville, Quebec, in mid-May, which might explain why The Stone is showing films a couple nights around the same time. Anyway, leave it to those French Canadians to host a huge festival in a small city with a population under 50,000—how do they do it? Well, they’ve been doing it for going on 25 years now, and judging from the lineup, it might be worth a road trip to checkout the Festival International Musique Actuelle (May 15 – 19 info). Here’s a shortlist of acts: Fred Frith, Elliott Sharp, Joe McPhee, Nick Didkovsky, Roscoe Mitchell, The Peeesseye (formally known as PSI), and John Zorn. Looks like Zorn has been bitten by the travel bug. He’ll be in Moers, Germany, beforehand playing another festival with a diverse lineup including Cecil Taylor, Dälek, The Either/Orchestra, Theo Bleckmann, Peter Evans Quartet, and Battles. (May 9 – 12 info). Later, we’ll ask Zorn which is better: Labatt Bleue or Warsteiner.

If you’re looking to really treat yourself—I mean, your mom—this coming Mother’s Day, I’d suggest heading on over to hear the Tokyo Sinfonietta perform the John Adams Chamber Symphony and Boulez’s Dérive 1 at the Cité de la musique (May 11 info). Yeah, I know, it all sounds way too international for its own good, but a trip to Paris sure beats honoring her with flowers and brunch again this year.

Until next time, get out there and enjoy the weather.

New Orleans may not be at the cutting edge of “new music” or musical innovation, but the community of musicians and the spirit and reverence that is shown towards it’s creation is among the most supportive and genuine I’ve yet to encounter. In New Orleans, music is for living: for dancing, for grieving, celebrating, eating, parading. It’s in the streets just as much as on the stage. It’s a music that reflects the history of the city and it’s music that is growing (and shrinking) along side it. More than any place I’ve experienced, music is community—it’s not about the virtuosity or perfection of a player, but about their intention and spirit, of which there is no shortage.

News Orleans is a cultural center famed for fusion, the ground on which many uniquely American art forms have been developed and preserved—including music, cuisine, performance art, visual art, and architecture. These cultural expressions, and the people who gave birth to them, are what give the city its flavor and its internationally recognized cultural stature. They are, at the core, what make the city an American icon.

Before Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, New Orleans was far from being a well-balanced social utopia. Tourism—which relied on selling the city’s “image” and traditions—thrived, and yet the extravagance and grandeur of that packaged experience existed within blocks of the most impoverished neighborhoods where some of the deepest traditions of New Orleans were founded and are today preserved. Two-and-a-half years after the hurricane, the city is still straining to rebuild, with a third of its neighborhoods abandoned, in disrepair, and showing few and slow signs of recovery. The tourism industry, which feeds much of the music scene in New Orleans, is struggling to attract visitors again, and yet there is a resilience and determination among local musicians and artists to remain and create new life in the city.

Making Music In the Streets

While New Orleans has certainly had its share of musicians hit the national big time (Galactic, The Meters, Alan Toussaint, Irma Thomas, The Marsalis Family), it is one of the few places where the music feels intrinsically and fundamentally tied to the physical city. And while the city is most well known as a place of preservation and tradition, innovation can also be heard throughout the music scene.

This relationship of innovation within “living traditions” is most apparent in the brass band tradition of New Orleans, which dates back to the late 19th century. This music developed as a fusion between European-styled military band music (when both France and Spain owned Louisiana for a significant time) and African folk music (brought to the Americas by West African slaves), and played a major role in the development of early jazz.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the music experienced a renaissance, when bands such as Rebirth and the Dirty Dozen broke away from traditional stylings and added elements of funk and hip hop. They also updated their lyrics. In one of Rebirths most famous early hits, they sing, “Leave that pipe alone, lil’ brothers”, speaking out against the crack cocaine epidemic that struck the city quite hard in the ’80s.

Panorama Jazz Band

Today, that duality of being rooted in tradition while also incorporating new styles and forms can be heard in young brass bands such as The Hot 8, Soul Rebels, New Birth, and Jupiter. These bands still function as working brass bands in New Orleans—playing for festivals, funerals, and second lines (traditional, locally hosted street parades outside the tourist track) that occur every Sunday in various neighborhoods, And while it is clear that they revere the old traditions and songs, they also are eager to speak of their own experience growing up in this city through their music. In the same set, Hot 8 can be heard playing versions of the old hymn “I’ll Fly Away” and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” and their original tunes range from “Rastafunk” to “Get Real,” in which they can be heard free-styling about growing up and playing music in New Orleans:

This is spiritual
We been doing this for ages
How the fuck you think my people made it through slavery
We taking the chance to spend our lives on the street
At the second-line, I find, that’s where the snakes beat.

Although many of the Soul Rebels were displaced by the hurricane and are currently living in Houston, you can hear them play weekly at the clubs around town. Members of The Nightcrawlers have also been scattered across the country, but twice a year you can hear them play versions of “Lil’ Liza Jane” that sound as though they were arranged by the love child of Gil Evans and Anthony Braxton.

During Mardi Gras season you can hear a brass band on just about every other block, featuring players of all ages and levels of musical ability. The Panorama Brass Band—whose musicians reconverge here every year, drawn from New Orleans, New York, and Texas—plays music of the Balkans and Serbia back-to-back with New Orleans traditionals. (There is a striking similarity in the groove of these two traditions.) Also not to be missed is the creative anarchy of the Krewe of Eris parade, during which a band of 40-plus intermediate horn players march throughout their neighborhood and the French quarter for five hours, playing all original songs, many with complex forms and in odd-metered time signatures.

Up Off the Pavement

Indoors, in the clubs and on the stages of New Orleans, “new music” and original music very often reflect the city’s unique history and its prominent traditions of jazz, funk, and free improvisation. Typical New Orleans bands include horns (tubas, trumpets, saxophones), accordions flow like wine, and percussion or rhythm guitars and banjos are at the heart of many groups. A good weekend night in New Orleans can be maddening when trying to decide which band to go listen to. However, the city is small and the venues fairly centralized, especially since the hurricane, so it’s possible to check out two or three groups in one evening.

During a recent walk down Frenchmen St.—the more underground live music “strip” that’s traversed by locals more than tourists—I came across three of my favorite groups. The Herringbone Orchestra and Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? were double billed at The Dragon’s Den. Both bands are all acoustic (accordion, bass, harp, and various horns) and sizeable in number (usually 9-12 players), playing beautifully arranged original music that sounds like it came out of the very marrow of New Orleans; waltzes, ballads, and dance songs with a lyrical grittiness. Songwriting is something that New Orleans musicians know how to do well, and because of this many groups are built around strong and charismatic vocalists.

One of my favorite singer-songwriters, Alex McMurray, was playing a solo set of his original music just down the street at DBA that same night. Alex is the leader of several prominent groups in New Orleans, including the Tin Men and the Valparaiso Men’s Chorus (a raucous collection of some of New Orleans’ top musicians who converge to sing quirky arrangements of traditional shanties the way sailors would have done—no holds barred, cursing and swearing like…well…drunken sailors.) Alex has lived in New Orleans for 17 years now, with a year spent in New York City after the hurricane. In a recent interview, he characterized the city’s allure:

There’s a lot of characters and weirdoes around New Orleans. Nobody has jobs, so people tend to just hang around a lot more. It’s not the richest town in the world, so you have a lot of desperate people (me included), just wandering around trying to do what makes them happy, and those people are what make it more real and genuine than any city I’ve known.

Alex has a voice and style variously reminiscent of Tom Waits and Louis Armstrong, but without coming off as an imitation of either. To catch him in a solo setting is indeed an intimate and rare treat, as each song feels it may be on the verge of falling apart and falling together in a fragile rawness.

Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?

Of course, there is a whole slew of bands creating music without a vocalist fronting the group. The Magnetic Ear (a quintet of tenor/bari saxophones, trombone, tuba, and electronics) recently released their new CD of original collective improvisation, funk, and ballads, after a summer series of weekly gigs where the aim was to bring in new compositions each week and just read them down in front of the audience.

Although a “new music” scene, in the sense of chamber musicians and composers experimenting and pushing the envelope of sound and form, is definitely hidden and not a priority in New Orleans, there is a small but persistent faction of performers and composers dedicated to this cause. Dan Ostriecher, bari sax player in Magnetic Ear, also helps book the Open Ears Music Series, which consists of weekly concerts of “adventure jazz and improvised music.” In a season of Open Ears shows you will find evenings of solo performer/composers, cello-electronics-percussion trios, original string quartet music, and good old-fashioned free jazz.

The Naked Orchestra, lead by Jonathan Freilich and Jimbo Walsh, played on the series recently, and if New Orleans can be said to have a “Godfather of New Music,” Jimbo would most likely be it. While Jimbo is an accomplished guitarist, playing in funk and rock bands throughout the city, he also leads another life as a composer and professor of composition at Loyola University. The Naked Orchestra follows in the tradition of creative orchestras such as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, The Arkestra, and many more. They balance complex charted material with masterful improvisation, performances possible only due to the caliber of the musicians in the band. Before a recent performance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Freilich stated, “We’re gonna give you everything today, far out, far in, ups, downs, inside-out, upside-down, in-between and maybe some things we don’t even know about yet.” A pledge that held true. As we listened and watched this 20-piece ensemble, it struck me how special it was to see many of the best musicians in the city, from various corners and styles of New Orleans’ music scene, working together to create and enjoy this new experience. A testament to not only the dedication of the musicians, but also to the vitality and living spirit of this city to nourish and inspire them.

Aurora Nealand is a saxophonist/composer living in New Orleans and New York. She performs regularly with the Panorama Jazz Band, Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship, and VaVaVoom in New Orleans, and Veveritse, Stagger Back Brass Band, and The Blue Vipers in New York.

Steve Reich speaking at SXSW Photo by Robert Honstein

Steve Reich came to SXSW. Amid throngs of hipsters, music industry insiders, fans of all ages, and countless axe-wielding, keyboard-playing, and drum-thumping rockers, Steve Reich, sporting his iconic logo-free cap, rolled into town. A far cry from its humble, homegrown, origins, SXSW 2008 (March 12-16) was a madhouse of a music festival, inhabited by some 12,500 registered participants and 1,750 bands. Faced with more than 30 different genres of music ranging from bluegrass to metal, the devoted fan might stumble upon hipper-than-hip indie acts, veterans like Sonic Youth, The Breeders, and R.E.M., grizzled blues men, Scandinavian death metal bands, or…Steve Reich. Yes, if there is a place for Jandek and Bud Melvin at SXSW, then surely there must also be a place for the patriarch of minimalism. Right?

Boosey & Hawkes certainly thinks so. This year, the music publisher—along with partners Gramophone and WMG/Nonesuch records—decided they needed to be heard at SXSW. After attending the festival in 2007, Boosey’s Director of Media Licensing Ken Krasner immediately set to work on making a 2008 Boosey showcase a reality. Though new and experimental music has been a part of the festival in the past—Zeena Parkins showed up in 2006 and the experimental label Table of the Elements has given showcases the last few years—the idea of a classical music publishing house setting up shop in the streets of Austin is without precedent. Judging from the enthusiasm of the packed crowd at the Boosey showcase this past Wednesday, the idea paid off.

A typical SXSW outing involves free booze, loud music, and sweat-soaked bodies packed into cramped spaces. Taking over nearly every inch of downtown Austin’s bars, clubs, churches, sidewalks, parks, and bridges, SXSW artists play anywhere there’s enough space for a human and an instrument. In the face of such a ubiquitous onslaught of constant, loud, amplified sound, if you’re not inside listening to one band, you’re outside listening to five at the same time. But part of the fun of SXSW is navigating this sprawling, free-for-all experience. Weaving among the throngs of people and bands, one can’t help but be swept away by the electric spirit of so much creative action.

Noise, crowds, and beer are not the usual bandmates of classical music, but somehow the Boosey showcase on March 12, titled “Reich, Rags and Road Movies”, fit nicely. Packed into a gorgeous wood-floored space, onlookers maintained rapt attention throughout performances by Michelle Schumann, the San Antonio based SOLI chamber players, Boosey’s own C. E. Whalen, and So Percussion. Although it was a bit surreal to experience concert hall etiquette at a SXSW showcase, the audience was clearly there for the music and seemed to relish the opportunity for a kind of listening experience wholly unique to the festival’s standard fare.

So Percussion performing Steve Reich’s Drumming Part 1 at SXSW Photo by Robert Honstein

The crowd’s obvious appreciation of the concert is itself a strong case for why new music should have a place at a festival like SXSW. The music performed—including six pieces by Reich, three pieces by Elena Kats-Chernin, and one piece each by Michael Torke, John Adams, and Elliott Carter—displayed strong resonances with popular music (the exception being the Carter piece, which was certainly the odd duck of the program). And Reich’s multi-generational influence on non-classical and classical musicians alike made him an ideal figurehead for the new music community at SXSW. The festival seemed to recognize this aspect of Reich’s provenance, facilitating an hour-long discussion between Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Reich as part of the concurrently running SXSW music conference.

Over one hundred artists identified themselves as “avant/experimental” at this year’s festival, and in this sense new music fits right in a with a larger SXSW trend. Showcases hosted by record label Table of the Elements, Austin’s own composer/performer Graham Reynolds, and the magazine Signal to Noise all featured music that evidenced connections with the new music world. Also riding that wave, Austin-based cellist Leanne Zacharias presented a show mixing SXSW artists such as Christine Fellows with works by contemporary composers, including Christian Lauba, Greg Cornelius, and myself. So while the Boosey showcase was certainly a fresh face at the festival, it was not entirely alone.

Although the shows, the parties, and the people are a huge part of the SXSW experience, it’s really an industry festival. Prices for badges and wristbands, necessary for getting into most SXSW events, are prohibitively expensive for the average fan. Instead the vast majority of festival-goers are the musicians themselves, people working in the industry, and representatives of the media. Aside from showcasing music, the festival is about bringing musicians and industry insiders together to meet, exchange ideas, and make deals. And the last few years, landing licensing deals for commercials, movies, or television shows has become a big part of the festival’s business side. So while Boosey set up shop in part to spread the sounds of new music, surely they’re also hoping to have their music turn up in a car commercial or the next episode of your favorite sitcom.

Whether seen as a bold experiment or evidence of a natural and healthy relationship between popular and contemporary classical music, Boosey’s showcase and Reich’s presence at the festival was a welcome addition. SXSW accommodates a wildly diverse array of musicians, all of whom seem to fit some niche and draw some kind of an audience. Perhaps if it weren’t for the boxes we draw around different types of music, it wouldn’t seem so surprising for Steve Reich and friends to drop in. Jason Treuting of So Percussion, while introducing his group to the audience at Boosey’s showcase, described the music they were about to play as “funky, contemporary music.” He’s right, it is, and there’s no reason why there can’t be more of it at SXSW in years to come. Austin to world: Bring on the new music bands!

***

Robert Honstein

Robert Honstein lives and works in Austin, Texas, where he composes music, plays piano, and sings. He recently completed a master’s degree in composition at the University of Texas at Austin.

Stephen Prina’s The Second Sentence of Everything I Read Is You: Mourning Sex, 2005–07

I made my de rigueur pilgrimage to the almighty velvet-roped temple of contemporary art, a.k.a. the 2008 edition of the Whitney Biennial. Every other year the cognoscenti mingle with curious tourists and working schmoes and gawk at this supposed art-trend barometer of the now—everything that’s hot, all under one roof. However this time around, the action isn’t so neatly contained inside the gallery walls of the Whitney. Turns out that the most compelling work—including all of the performance art, music, dance, and all the hybrids in between—takes place at the Park Avenue Armory where you can drink homemade tequila with artist Eduardo Sarabia and listen to Marina Rosenfeld’s choral cover version of Ligeti’s orchestral piece Lontano featuring 40 teenaged performers. There’s also a Brian Eno-style chill space decked out with cots, concocted by DJ Olive. Called Triage, part of Olive’s Sleeping Pill series, visitors will be invited to the installation on March 22 for an overnight slumber party offering some deep ambient detoxification. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Checkout the Whitney’s website for the details on events by Gang Gang Dance, Lucky Dragons, and New Humans.

As for the Madison Avenue Whitney headquarters, the gallery exhibition itself isn’t that much of a marvel. Sonically speaking, there isn’t much happening aside from the audio emanating from various film and video installations peppered throughout the galleries. The most musical application of sound comes from artist Stephen Prina. His The Second Sentence of Everything I Read Is You: Mourning Sex, 2005–07 wafts spatialized guitar picking and the artist’s vocals within a fleshy, pink room littered with the four packing crates that the installation’s components travel in, adorned with padded monochromatic cushions on top for views to lounge upon. It’s like some makeshift comfy spot made by the roadies, so they can take a long, relaxing break during the stage show. The piece is definitely in line with the transient, almost under-construction vibe that a lot of the other works in the galleries exude.

Tune in to NPR on Wednesdays – Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT and Fridays 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT until May 31, 2008 here.

One of my favorite things associated with the Biennial is housed just next door to the museum, in a storefront previously occupied by a high-end shoe retailer. Things might look a little disheveled inside—foamcore-mounted posters, random leaflets, empty takeout containers, laptops, and noise-making toys litter the floor and the folding tables and chairs—but don’t let the haphazard appearance scare you away. Definitely go inside. Welcome to the temporary control center of the Bay Area-based collective Neighborhood Public Radio.

When I arrived, there was a slew of teenagers hovering around the front window, most likely lingering from an NPR outreach program. After wading through the mini-crowd, I entered. Far from the hermetically sealed, tech’ed-out recording booths utilized by the national moniker-sharing entity they often mock, this NPR is something like guerrilla art verging on community service. NPR’s focus and content is nebulous at best, but this is exactly what makes its impact so powerful—it’s a snapshot of the surrounding community with everyone, and I mean everyone from the well-behaved bum asking for change to the adventurous museum trustee willing to drop in, at the helm.

NPR’s blog can be found here.

As the door swung closed behind me, I passed NPR’s LeE Montgomery interviewing, from what I gathered, a Whitney staff member. Once it was announced that it was the interview subject’s birthday, fellow NPR artist Michael Trigilio bounded across the room and grabbed the mic from Montgomery. After a soul-drenched improvised prelude that extended a minute or two too long for comfort, the rest of the crew joined in for a sloppy but damn spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday.” I was already having a great time.

I was introduced to photographer and NPR member Jessamyn Lovell and asked her a few routine questions, then she went back to her laptop, a fellow crew member went back to her turkey and swiss sandwich, and I moved on to the wall of noisemaking gadgets on display. Impressive. As the banter around the office continued, I noticed most of the off-mic jokes seemed to center on the number of people listening to the broadcast—or indeed if anyone was listening at all. Lovell announced, “I’m getting tons of IMs from listeners all around the world as we speak.” After another comical outburst from Trigilio, Lovell confided that if anyone was actually listening, they’d be thinking, “This is so amazingly weird, but in a good way.” My thoughts exactly.

NPR’s motto is: If it’s in the neighborhood and it makes noise…we hope to put it on the air. And that’s exactly what they do. After leafing through some fliers and waiting patiently for his turn, an older gentleman who had the appearance of someone, shall we say, down on his luck, got his chance to deliver a surprisingly succinct rant about Mayor Bloomberg, some database of low-level criminals’ DNA he wholeheartedly disagreed with, and the act of spitting on the sidewalk, which became a reoccurring theme as he vented. After his ten-minutes of fame, Lovell tried to get the man’s name and number so they could invite him back for a scheduled time slot. No luck. Meanwhile, two musicians were setting up laptops and guitar amps, readying themselves for a live on-air performance. NPR allows anyone from the community to stop by or email them to schedule up to an hour of airtime for their own show, but they leave gaping holes in the time grid to allow passers-by and museum visitors a chance to share their two cents with the world. Rest assured that from moment to moment, whether scheduled or freeform, you never know what you’ll be listening to on NPR. By the time I left, they convinced me to come back so they could interview me on the air. While a wandering conversation by an unknown like myself would be of no interest to a national audience, it sure is interesting to hear what your neighbors are thinking. I’m planning to tune in often.

I don’t know if concert presenters are sensing a mid-season fatigue on the part of concertgoers, but March seems to be shaping up into a heavily theme-driven month for new music here in the Big Apple. Whether or not you’re a fan of these gimmicky strategies for packaging a concert, in the end it’s still all about the music, plus the marketing department gets to have a little fun, too.

Let’s kick things off with what’s being promoted under an eye-catching one-word banner: Erotica. Now that I have your attention, it appears the Fireworks ensemble is trying some PR pyrotechnics to get butts in seats, and you can’t blame them for trying something a little risqué. In the end you’re going to get treated to Frank Zappa’s G-Spot Tornado as well as the titillatingly titled Lick by Julia Wolf. Jacob Druckman’s Valentine and David del Tredici’s Sweet Gwendolyn and the Countess are paired will the classic tease Dance of the Seven Veils and a performance of Bolero which may induce visions of Bo Derek in slow-mo. Derek Bermel’s Coming Together completes the program. Ahem. Absolutely no comment. (March 7 info).

Moving right along to another PR person’s wet dream we have Timberbrit (March 16 info). That’s right, this simi-staged opera follows the turbulent life of Britney Spears and longtime friend and former lover Justin Timberlake. The way things have been shaping up for the real-life Britney, I’m sure this libretto practically wrote itself. Regardless, kudos to composer Jacob Cooper for actually doing what has probably crossed the mind of many. The lives of former Mousketeers sure make for ripe melodrama.

From the profane to the insane, we now move on to the embodiment of both realms: Let’s talk politics. Ensemble π’s The Rest is Silence program not only manages to spoof Alex Ross’s catchphrase, it delivers the U.S. premiere of Frederic Rzewski’s Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier. Other politically motivated fare includes John Harbison’s Abu Ghraib and a new piece for two voices and computer-generated sound called Far From Home by Kristin Norderval. Ensemble π continues to assert its political bent by performing Shostakovich’s second piano trio and portions of South African animation artist William Kentridge’s 9 Drawings for Projection, which traces his country’s transition from apartheid to democracy. It will be screened paired with a live performance of fellow countryman Philip Miller’s score (March 1 info).

Roscoe Mitchell

My favorite extramusical ploy this month comes from Berkeley, California, and involves fine gastronomical pleasures. As if to prove that the San Francisco Bay Area still houses the nation’s largest coterie of tree-hugging hippies, shakuhachi guru extraordinaire Philip Gelb pairs creative music with local, seasonal, not to mention organic, vegan cuisine. This month, his privately hosted series welcomes AACM legend Roscoe Mitchell (March 1). So if the handmade tempeh and tofu doesn’t leave your mouth watering (the menu includes flavorful touches like maitake mushrooms and sichuan peppercorns—zing!), the homemade cashew-based ice cream dessert should do the job. If you can’t make it to this show, check Gelb’s MySpace page for upcoming concert-cum-dinner party delicacies.

Thankfully, not all the marketing mavens have been taking serious doses of thematic-laden steroids. There are many straight-up gigs worth checking out in March. In fact, those hippies over there in Fog City are going to have to choose between this year’s Other Minds festival (March 6 – 8 info), now in its thirteen iteration, and the brand-spanking-new upstart POW! (March 6 – 8 info), a so-called performance art mini-festival. Even though Other Minds is now officially a teenager, you’ll probably get more smart-alecky talkback from the new kid on the block—if that’s what you’re into. To make the decision even harder, SF JAZZ kicks off its spring season with a program called Orchestral Innovators featuring Travis Sullivan’s Björkestra and the Realistic Orchestra (March 6 info). Not too far down the road is the Sacramento Sound Art Festival, as well (March 7 and 8 info). Luckily, the all-day Switchboard Music Festival seems to be running unopposed, so far (March 30 info).

Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys

For a modern day, burlesque-tinged take on gesamtkunstwerk, head to Framingham, Massachusetts, for the Carnal Carnival featuring Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, and troupes of hula-hoopers, belly dancers, jugglers, etc. (March 1 info). This year’s SXSW festival in Austin is going to be a lot of fun, too. Guitarist C E Whalen and the guys from So Percussion will bang out some Steve Reich tunes (March 12). The following day the composer will be interviewed by Thurston Moore at the Convention Center as part of the conference component (March 13 info).

There’s an interesting mini-festival of music happening in Chicago in conjunction with The Renaissance Society’s exhibition of work by Trisha Donnelly. She’s been known to work in the mediums of sound and performance in the past, but she has a knack for keeping folks in the art world guessing. However the show turns out, the Millennium Chamber Players take over the gallery to play some works by well-know modernists and younger folks like Carmel Raz, Sarah Ritch, and Ayaka Nishina (March 16 info). Then, local improv outfit Noamnesia is joined by Rome-based Ossatura to shake things up (March 18 info). But if you want your sound art experience more far flung, pack your bags for South Africa to hangout with Brandon LaBelle and a pack of other sonic luminaries for Fear of the Known—Unyazi Extreme Listening Festival and Symposium 2008 (March 12 – 16 info).

Ezra Laderman

Sure, the Elliott Carter centennial celebrations are already out of the gates, but it’s also time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of composer Ezra Laderman’s arrival at Yale. Faculty, students, and alumni musicians descend upon Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall to perform works by their esteemed mentor, including the New York premiere of Interior Landscapes II for two pianos, composed last year. The university is planning a free downloadable podcast for the occasion, as well (available here). But if it’s Carter you crave, I’d suggest a gig in Philadelphia. Network for New Music has gathered ten pieces dedicated to American music’s patriarch by an impressive range of fellow composers that includes Milton Babbitt, Uri Caine, Jeffery Cotton, Alvin Curran, Jeremy Gill, Jennifer Higdon, Jeffrey Mumford, Augusta Read Thomas, Maurice Wright, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Interspersed with other pieces by Carter, this program should prove quite a workout for pianists Marilyn Nonken and Stephen Gosling (March 2 info).

Feldman fans in North Carolina take note, this one is going to make your year. Morty’s rockin’ Patterns in a Chromatic Field is being performed by the unflappable Charles Curtis on cello with Aleck Karis at the ivories (March 22 info). The same pair recorded the piece for Tzadik a few years back, so they’ve got the 80-plus minute tune under their fingers. It should be a great gig.

Over in New Mexico, power strips and surge protectors are being gathered up for the Santa Fe International Festival of Electroacoustic Music (March 28 and 29 info). The live concerts feature pieces by early electronics pioneer Gordon Mumma and composer/sound artist Olivia Block. Also, a sound installation by Brooklyn-based Michael Dotolo will grace the College of Santa Fe’s Atrium Sound Space as part of the festival (February 29 – April 10 info). All of us online can tune in to the broadcasted portion of the festival which takes place every Sunday evening throughout the month of March (info, tune in). Happy listening.

It’s not easy to get a date on Valentine’s Day. But who the hell cares, because there are a ton of new music concerts going on to console our eternally bleeding hearts. So if you’re feeling blue about love, rip the Band-Aid off right now and find out what’s going on during the annual love-fest that bankrolls florists and chocolatiers everywhere, not to mention Hallmark.

In San Francisco, those who want to escape the prix fixe menus and restaurant reservation frenzy can head to The Luggage Store to hear some intense improv delivered by clarinetist Michael Marcus and brassman Ted Daniel, a.k.a. Duology (February 14 info). But if you really want to stick it to the greeting card industry, as you sulk in brokenheartedness, the gig for you is in NYC at the Knitting Factory: Diamanda Galás presents her Valentine’s Day Massacre (February 14 info). Ah, the joy of homicidal love songs, performed with some serious conviction. Everything’s coming up roses.

Joanna Newsom Photo by Paul O’Valle

With all that nonsense out of the way, let’s, ahem, leap into the goings-on during Black History Month—seriously though, makes you wonder why The Man chose the shortest month of the year for this designation. Stick, meet short end…but I digress. Here in New York, February busts out of the gates with a bunch of stuff worthy of hungry ears. Foremost on the list is Joanna Newsom, backed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic (February 1 info. Update: new show added on January 31 and tickets go on sale January 16). Bravo to the Brooklyn Phil for programming concerts that don’t induce the side effects of NyQuil.

However, another exciting event is brewing Uptown as Miller Theatre hosts a George Crumb portrait concert which includes the composer’s Appalachian-tinged Unto the Hills performed by singer Daisy Press and So Percussion (February 1 info). The program also includes Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III)—cue record-breaking blizzard here.

I promise to talk about something besides New York City in the next paragraph, but I have to get something off my chest first. There’s a great gig memorializing violinist Leroy Jenkins at a new venue that took forever and ever to build—trust me, I live across the street, and it was an inactive construction site for years. But finally, after enduring the occasional jackhammer and the sight of that ugly PVT-slatted chain link fence, we’ll get to hear the likes of Wadada Leo Smith, Myra Melford, Thomas Buckner, and Flux Quartet pay tribute to the late free jazz legend at the Dweck Center (February 9 info).

In the South, there’s a conference going on has nothing to do with the presidential primaries. It’s the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference hosted by the Georgia State University School of Music in Atlanta (February 20 – 23 info). Expect a little networking, cocktails, and a lot of music. Also in the relative vicinity, we find the North Carolina Computer Music Festival (February 25 – 26 info). Although all the details aren’t on the web quite yet, two concerts and a panel discussion will lay down the digital 411 on today’s laptop scene.

Across the pond, the folks in Glasgow are going to get a taste of the American South as well during the experimental arts festival known as Instal (February 15 – 17 info). An event called Golden Cherry Ball combines the avant-folk outfits Golden Road and Cherry Blossoms (the latter known for their kazoo stylings) and should prove interesting (info). And in the Netherlands, Morton Feldman gets a four-day festival devoted to his music (February 7 – 10 info).

Blevin Blectum Photo by Ryan Junell

In Chicago, composer and violinist-vocalist extraordinaire Carla Kihlstedt presents her new costumed musical performance Necessary Monsters at the Museum of Contemporary Art (February 29 info). Oh, and speaking of costumed performance, I, for one, am looking forward to Blevin Blectum getting all gussied up in some whacky threads for her audio/video extravaganza Gular Flutter at The Stone (February 21 info). And with her come some old cohorts from the Bay Area electronic music scene of yore: Jay Lesser (February 22 info), Wobbly (February 22 info), and Matmos (February 23 info). West Coast represents! Well, at least one of them still dwells within the left hand side of the map.

And in the Golden State itself we find an interesting festival called Music Beyond Performance: SoundImageSound V (February 1 info). But California isn’t just laptops, video projectors, and 5.1 surround sound systems. For something unplugged, try Earplay’s “Unorthodox Journeys” concert (February 11 info). This show features a world premiere composition by Aaron Einbond and works by Feldman, Festinger, Martha Horst, and others.

Besides the heart-shaped boxes, February also signals that it’s time for the Bang on a Can People’s Commissioning Fund Concert (February 13 info). This year the lucky composers are: Tristan Perich, Erdem Helvacioglu, and Ken Thomson. But you don’t have to be in New York to get your Can-on. The All-Stars are bringing their signature marathon concerts to San Francisco (February 9 info) and Baton Rouge (February 28). Reminder: Half-off chocolates sale at Walgreens on the morning of February 15.</p

Pauline Oliveros and Jesse Stewart

Improvised music of the sort generally labeled “avant-garde” is arcane, hyper-specialized; it tends to please small and devoted audiences and has little impact on the wider world, which is dominated by far more commercial and accessible sounds. But what if an improvised performance is more than an improvised performance? Does improvised music open a door to possibilities for social change? And if that’s the case, shouldn’t more people be paying attention?

These are the kinds of questions being addressed by a team of scholars heading up “Improvisation, Community and Social Practice” (ICSP), a multifaceted, seven-year research project led by Ajay Heble, professor of English at the University of Guelph in Ontario, and funded to the tune of $2.5 million by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

“Improvised music,” Heble contends, “is a form of creative practice that fosters a commitment to cultural listening, to a widening of the scope of community and to new models of trust and social organization.” It’s hoped, therefore, that the project will create a new level of visibility for today’s most innovative improvisers; foster productive contacts between scholars in a wide range of fields; and ultimately develop a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between art and society, and how that relationship can be channeled toward social and political renewal.

Ever since he launched the Guelph Jazz Festival in 1996, Heble has made a point of uniting theory and practice, viewing the pragmatic business of concert programming through a scholarly prism. “For a number of years we’ve offered a colloquium—an academic conference—as part of the festival schedule,” he says. “Guelph is the only Canadian jazz festival that offers this kind of ongoing education component, and it’s really taken off. A couple of co-edited books have come out of it [The Other Side of Nowhere: Jazz, Improvisation, and Communities in Dialogue (Wesleyan), Rebel Musics: Human Rights, Resistant Sounds, and the Politics of Music Making (Black Rose)]. And that led to the start of our peer-reviewed, open-access online journal, Critical Studies in Improvisation in 2004.”

With these activities, Heble and his colleagues established a track record and laid an intellectual foundation for the highly competitive SSHRC grant. They were unsuccessful on their first attempt, however, which made victory this round all the sweeter. From a field of at least 30 candidates, ICSP was one of two awardees in 2006. The study officially launched in September 2007.

In his book Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance and Critical Practice (Routledge, 2000), Heble spells out the implications of this kind of scholarship in the starkest terms: “[W]hat’s at stake in our understanding and assessment of the music, I would suggest, is nothing less than the struggle to reconstruct public life” (p. 230). At first blush this may seem hopelessly ambitious. But Heble, even informally over the phone, has a way of highlighting the more intuitive aspects of the ICSP mission. The task at hand, he says, is to study “the complex and often unrecognized ways in which improvisation informs debates beyond the borders of the purely artistic. Our goal is not only to understand the music, but also its broader social implications, how it opens up a consideration of issues that are central to the challenges of diversity and social cooperation in the new millennium.”

Jazz, of course, is not the only music to involve improvisation, nor the only music with an activist, political tradition. Of necessity, ICSP will have to limit its focus. “We’ll be dealing with a set of current practices that arose in response to an experimentalist impulse in the 20th century,” Heble explains. “This involves jazz, but it’s not just jazz: it’s a set of practices that emerged largely in response to jazz, but have been picked up and circulated through wider networks of cultural exchange.” What Heble is referring to, in the main, is the avant-garde or “free jazz” movement of the 1960s and its globe-spanning, genre-defying legatees.

Speaking of the “long and illustrious history that links improvised musical practices with struggles for social justice and human rights,” Heble cites such figures as Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Sun Ra, and Horace Tapscott, bands like the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and entities like the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). “A lot of these artists began with a social and ethical mandate and were explicit in seeing their music as part of a larger struggle.” ICSP aims not simply to look back at these past endeavors but to highlight present-day artists who work in a similar spirit.

“One thing we’re trying to understand is how improvised musical practices can be understood as forms of insurgent knowledge production,” says Heble, slipping into voguish academic parlance. “There’s something special about improvised music,” he continues, “something about the kind of activist listening it demands, that helps to disrupt orthodox standards of coherence and notions of fixity. It encourages us to hear the world anew.”

Ironically for a study of improvisation, ICSP’s seven-year plan is rigorously mapped out, as any large, grant-driven project must be. The team has received matching funds not only from the University of Guelph, but also McGill and the University of British Columbia: $4 million in total. The program involves 33 researchers from 18 different academic institutions; among them are the noted improvisers George Lewis (trombone, electronics) and Pauline Oliveros (just-intonation accordion), as well as UC-Santa Barbara sociologist George Lipsitz, Harvard musicologist Ingrid Monson, and University of Kansas gender theorist Sherrie Tucker. There are also 13 “community partners,” notes Heble, “ranging from the Canada Council to street-level organizations that work with at-risk youth.”

The program will encompass seven research areas: law and justice, pedagogy, social policy, transcultural understanding, gender and the body, text and media, and social aesthetics. The researchers select their areas according to interest and expertise, and each area has its own research coordinator. Similarly, there are seven research tools: policy papers; the online journal; three annual colloquia to be held at Guelph, McGill and UBC (21 conferences in the seven years); a “research-intensive” website, distinct from the journal; a summer institute; a series of five books (forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press); and a public outreach component. “We have a complicated grid,” Heble laughs, “with each person assigned a spot in relation to the research tools for each area. So, for instance, the pedagogy area has different reps for policy papers, summer institute, and so on.”

Built into the SSHRC grant is an accountability structure; Heble and the team are required to submit a “milestone report,” undergo a formal midterm evaluation, and uphold strict allocation standards. What this ensures is a focus on results. “We’re concerned with a number of specific outcomes, in arts funding policy and other areas,” Heble submits. “Improvisation tends to be disparaged or misunderstood, seen as an individual’s expression of personality without recognizing that it has these broader community impacts. We want to address these misunderstandings both among the public but also in terms of arts funding structures, pedagogy, and social policy. For example, it’s very difficult as an improviser to get funding, whereas a composer has far more options. What does that tell us about structures of legitimation and access to resources? We’re hoping to make interventions in these kinds of policy deliberations. The outcomes are concrete, and we hope they will have long-lasting impact.”

Perhaps the most readily graspable goal of ICSP is transcultural understanding. When we witness encounters between musicians “who may not even speak the same language but can make wondrous music without preparation,” as Heble puts it, “what does that tell us about negotiating difference?” The rub is that such performances are fleeting and involve relatively small groups of people. There is a tension, readily acknowledged by Heble, between the harnessing of ephemeral musical experiences and the building of long-term communal bonds and political progress. To extrapolate from a festival gig to the hope of widespread and fundamental change may strike many as a leap. Even Heble is wary of articulating concrete social-change benchmarks that, by themselves, would signify success or failure at the end of seven years.

The point, rather, is to initiate a process and build a home for a community of scholars who could enhance the public good over time. “We’ve always understood that this is going to evolve in ways we can’t predict,” says Heble, who ultimately hopes to establish a permanent international center for improv-related scholarship. “I think we’ve helped to break open an emerging field of inquiry,” he declares. “Effectively we’re defining and shaping a brand new kind of interdisciplinary study, for what I would argue is a hugely important social and cultural phenomenon.”

***

David R. Adler

David R. Adler is the editor of Jazz Notes, the quarterly publication of the Jazz Journalists Association, and covers jazz for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Weekly, Jazz Times, and Down Beat. His writings have also appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic Online, Slate, Democratiya, NewMusicBox, All Music Guide, Global Rhythm, All About Jazz, Signal to Noise, Coda, and Jewish Currents. As a guitarist, David has performed with a wide variety of musicians in some of New York’s best venues, including Avery Fisher Hall, Roseland, Joe’s Pub and Fez. During his tenure with the East Village band Keeta Speed (1996-1999), David worked with the famed producers Dave McDonald (Portishead), Patrick Dillett (B-52’s, They Might Be Giants) and Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev).</p

Gil Rose Photo by Liz Linder

Can you believe another year just flew by? Well, thanks to online banking and debit cards, at least we don’t have to remember to fill out the correct year when writing a check at the grocery store—do stores still accept checks? Anyway, another year, another concert season. Let’s get down to business.

They grow up so fast, don’t they? I bet that sentiment is running through Gil Rose’s head about now as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project turns ten. Yes, BMOP is smack dab in the middle of tweendom. To celebrate, the group performs world premieres by Ezra Sims and Osnat Netzer (January 25 info). Beantown composers Michael Gandolfi and Leon Kirchner have compositions on the program as well as a performance by Byron Hitchcock, winner of the BMOP/NEC concerto composition, playing William Bolcom’s Violin Concerto.

Seattle Chamber Players

What happens when a couple music critics team up to curate a festival? Probably a lot of shouting matches, but in the case of Seattle Chamber Player’s Icebreaker series, dubbed Critic’s Choice, it appears that Kyle Gann and Alex Ross are on the same page. The three day event includes a fully packed day of panel discussions, a film presentation, lectures, and a concert (Janurary 25 – 27 info). By the end of the weekend you will have heard more than a dozen world premiere compositions commissioned specifically for the occasion, penned by John Luther Adams, Mason Bates, Anna Clyne, Kyle Gann, Alexandra Gardner, Janice Giteck, Judd Greenstein, Elodie Lauten, and Nico Muhly. In keeping with one of the festival’s mottos – The American Future: All Ages/No Rules – there’s a performance by William Duckworth’s and Nora Farrell’s Cathedral Band, a piece by Eve Beglarian, and William Brittelle’s Michael Jackson, which you can listen to right now on MySpace. Oh, if you need any more convincing on this gig, two words: Feldman Marathon! Seattle is making Brooklyn a little jealous with this one.

Oh, and speaking of Feldman, the Los Angeles Philharmonic is dabbling in the quiet-zone, performing the composer’s Turfan Fragments (January 11 info). The best part about this concert is that you don’t have to sit through a Bruckner symphony to get to the modern works – the whole program is 20th century. Ives, Berio, Benjamin, Zimmermann…the only thing missing is Dudamel.

If you like architecture as much as modern composition, here’s a little of both: The Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Art Museum plays host to the Present Music ensemble (January 12 info). The plan is to perform compositions in unique spaces within the museum for a migrating audience. A more traditional sit-in-a-chair approach will be used for works by Randall Woolf, Kamran Ince, and a world premiere of a new piece by Alex Mincek. Another museum, Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, presents Paul Dresher’s chamber opera The Tyrant (January 25 info). (Subliminal message: Impeach Bush) If you’re in the area, checkout the MCA’s exhibition called Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967, but hurry – the show closes the first week of the new year (now through January 6 info).

Del Sol String Quartet Photo by Jim Block

I’m a sucker for the didjeridu, and a fan of the Bay Area-based king of the “didge” Stephen Kent. I was thrilled to see that he’s performing with the Del Sol String Quartet (January 29 info). The program, called Coming Together, gets its title from a Derek Bermel piece for clarinet and string quartet, which probably spawned programming the zippy klezmer-inspired Osvaldo Golijov work Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. The rest of the concert includes a piece by Mexican composer Arturo Salinas and Aussie Peter Sculthorpe’s String Quartet No. 16 – you can infer which piece includes didjeridu.

While trolling around MySpace, I found some interesting gigs like this one in PA. And this one which Maciej Flis bills as Bassoon Night! High on my list of instrumental favs, but by no means a didjeridu. But my favorite internet find is a little gem called SIX_EVENTS (January 21 – 27 info). Composer Jason Eckardt seems to be onboard. But wait a minute here. Are we going to let the British co-opt America’s wacky, experimental tradition like this so easily? Sure! Why not? So I want to see all my peeps out there doing strange things on buses, in bars, grocery stores, and parks. Go crazy—punch a higher floor.

‘Tis the holiday season, but I’ve got new music on the brain, so this year’s shopping list might get a little experimental in the gift department. Let’s see here, I think I have something for everyone—naughty or nice.

Ah ha, I found it! The world’s best Hanukkah present: tickets to the first-ever restaging of Harry Partch’s Delusion of the Fury (December 4, 6, 7, 8 info). It’s hard to believe that the large-scale musical theater piece has never been remounted since its first production way back in 1969. This spare-no-expense undertaking includes the original Partch-designed instruments and will be performed by the members of Newband. So what does Partch’s homemade brand of microtonal music have to do with menorahs and dreidels? Absolutely nothing, I’m sure, but I wouldn’t know. I grew up feeling jealous of those kids who were showered with gifts eight nights in a row and then got to go out for Chinese food and a movie on the 25th.

Speaking of gifts, we all know an exchange or two is inevitable. Here’s an interesting one: Bang on a Can brings its notorious marathon concert to Nebraska (December 1 info). People of Lincoln, don’t be alarmed if your city sounds like Lower Manhattan, it’s just the Bang on a Can All-Stars along with Meredith Monk, Don Byron, Glenn Kotche, and the rest of the gang. You’ll have to shell out 48 bucks to see the entire show, but it’s a lot cheaper than the roundtrip airfare to JFK. Oh, and what does New York City get in return? That’s right, week after week of Nutcrackers, Messiahs, and boy choirs. Well, to even things out, we also get a certain violin-toting theoretical physicist on a sandy coastline (Dec 6 info).

If you’re looking to get me a Christmas, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, or whatever gift, I’ll gladly accept a plane ride to the Netherlands and tickets to this concert featuring Tom Johnson’s latest piece, Galileo, and Anne LeBaron’s “hyperopera” Crecent City (December 1 info). Also in the deal: I get to hang out in Amsterdam for a while. In return, I’ll bring you back a souvenir (of the legal variety).

Phil Kline

This month signals another holiday tradition: Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night. Although folks in Santa Barbara may never experience a bona fide white Christmas on home turf, they will receive a little holiday cheer of a different variety, new-music-style. Everyone grab a boombox and head for the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, this year’s starting line for Kline’s roaming sonic vigil (December 6 info). Details about other upcoming Unsilent Night events happening around the globe will soon be posted to this MySpace page. If there’s a performance near you, I urge you take part—trust me, you won’t regret it.

For all of you heathens out there celebrating Festivus, I recommend a little concert called Sax and Violins (December 2 info). Brought to you by Chicago-based new music group Dal Niente, said instruments will perform works by Christian Lauba, Carmel Raz, and Lee Hyla, among others, inside the swanky Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. Eggnog is definitely in order.

Christian Marclay

Okay, you can be straight with me. You’re already sick of Christmas music, right? I mean, even if you’ve managed to successfully avoid the mall since the jack-o’-lanterns were packed and stored away for next year, you’ve already had your fill of “Jingle Bells” from other outlets. I have something to cheer you up: tons more Christmas music! Hear me out. If you’ve never been to an installation/performance of Christian Marclay’s The Sounds of Christmas, you might consider making a trek to Switzerland. The Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporain in Geneva plays host to Marclay’s vast collection of Christmas-themed vinyl, and he’s got everything from the classics to kitsch. Depending on the guest DJs invited to spin, the result can be compelling or downright hilarious. I once witnessed an amazing scratch-heavy set by DJs Streak and Realm at an incarnation of The Sounds of Christmas in San Francisco—I had never heard any holiday music sound like this before, or since.

Assuming that you might actually posses an insatiable appetite for all things X-mas, I offer to you Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual holiday frolic, hosted by poster-boy Wynton Marsalis and actress Glenn Close (December 10 info). Dubbed the “Red Hot Holiday Stomp,” the show features a little New Orleans spice added to well-known holiday classics, as well as the premiere of Marsalis’s Music, Deep Rivers In My Soul. If you’d rather curl up by the fire, you can tune in at home when it’s broadcast live on PBS (check your local listings). But if you’re like me, you probably prefer something a slightly more twisted. Up in Boston, the Firebird Ensemble is cultivating a new annual holiday-themed concert tradition by playing Jon Deak’s The Passion of Scrooge and A Not-So Traditional Christmas Medley by Cameron Wilson (December 7 and 8 info).

If none of this cures your holiday season music woes, make a beeline to Stillwater, Minnesota, where you will be treated to brand spanking new Christmas-themed tunes performed by VocalEssence on their Welcome Christmas! concert (December 1 info). On the program are the winners of their annual Christmas Carol Contest. If you can’t make it to the gig, stay tuned to Minnesota Public Radio and other American Public Media outlets which will announce the winners and broadcast the entire concert. Allow me to wrap this up by wishing everybody some holiday cheer—remember to enjoy your holiday music responsibly and in moderation. Because a jingle bell is a terrible thing to waste.

A telling exchange between Beethoven and a pianist struggling with his Piano Sonata No. 32 ended with the composer offering this retort: “I don’t care about your fingers.” That exchange, however apocryphal, is illuminating. It sheds light on how some composers consider—or rather don’t consider—the effects that their works have on performers’ bodies.

Performance injury among musicians is an issue of no small matter. A recent study identified that as much as 65 percent of the music student population suffer from a performance injury. That study, a joint effort by the Texas Center for Music and Medicine and the Performing Arts Medical Association, also pegged the adult musician population suffering from a performance injury at 75 percent. The Texas Center for Music and Medicine, located on the campus of the University of North Texas, is the leading U.S. research institution on musician health and performance injuries.

Spreading awareness among composers of the potential effect that compositions may have on performers’ bodies is in its infancy. But it has been gaining momentum as of late. It’s a pertinent issue for Dr. Kris S. Chesky, co-founder and director of education and research for the Texas Center of Music and Medicine. The Center seeks to build a dialogue among schools and researchers about performance injuries and music curriculum standards for schools.

According to Chesky, “The idea that compositional practices and arranging practices should be influenced by some understanding of the risks in playing is permeating our disciplinary group. Now, people involved in teaching composition are thinking that maybe they should be bringing this up when teaching kids how to compose.” That discussion, Chesky says, may include how some modern or contemporary works, especially extremely repetitive ones found in minimalist music, impact players. From a composer’s point of view, that issue treads into sacrosanct territory.

“I certainly can say that if some music departments are throwing around the idea that living composers are responsible for performance injuries, the Eastman School is definitely not one of those institutions,” contends Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, who teaches composition at the Eastman School of Music. “The thought that modern music, as a whole, is to blame for performance injuries is ludicrous. While I have no hard data to support this assertion, I can base my observations on the many years of personal experiences and contact with musicians who have suffered from injuries related to musical practice.”

Sanchez-Gutierrez believes that, if anything, the cause for music performance injuries is due to the stress that surrounds traditional professional and pre-professional music practices. According to him, “Musicians do practice excessively, and under tremendous stress, the same musical passages, when preparing for auditions, competitions, master classes, and such opportunities.” And he’s fervent in his belief that the large majority of the music to blame is traditional classical music and not modern music. “We should look there for the cause of these injuries, and leave composers alone.”

Some composers agree, but see it as less of a black and white issue. “I really do feel that the basic premise of [Sanchez-Gutierrez’s] comment is right,” posits composer Kurt Rohde, who teaches composition at the University of California at Davis. Rohde likened any movement to get composers to look at their compositions through a performance injury lens as “morality for musicians.” A violist, Rohde has not seen any example of a musician’s health being adversely impacted by his compositions, though he does think that there has to be a type of consideration for performers. Still, he believes the bigger issue is what is reasonable to expect from a performer in getting ready for a new work.

But some musicians who toil in orchestras and orchestra pits see things differently, like violist Anna Kruger, who plays with the Sacramento Ballet orchestra and also fills in with the Sacramento Opera orchestra when needed. Kruger believes that some music, like that of composer Philip Glass, gives her and others pause at the stand. “This music can be hazardous. Anytime you stay in the same place, where you’re doing the same thing with your left hand, that hand will get stressed and tired.”

Kruger claims that one of those works is a ballet with the music of Philip Glass called Glass Pieces. “One of the movements is just unrelenting. It’s four or five pages of the same thing. We have to take turns on the stand where I play eight bars and hang out for eight while my stand partner plays eight. We don’t want to hurt ourselves. I think there would be a lot more people calling in sick if we didn’t do that.”

But minimalist music isn’t the only kind that concerns players. Don Ehrlich, who recently retired as violist with the San Francisco Symphony, contends that he suffered a major injury due to the repeated bow “scrubbing” demanded by Beethoven’s works, mainly his Eroica.

“Beethoven does that to us violists, Bruckner as well,” says Ehrlich, who now teaches the violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. “Some composers have seemed arrogant when placing demands on performers.” He cites Wagner and his use of the Viola Alta as a primary example. That instrument was designed by 19th-century German violist Herman Ritter, and Wagner was keen on the instrument’s bigger sound. Violists at the time complained that they couldn’t play the instrument because it was too big and they got injured. “Wagner, of course, couldn’t be bothered to change his mind, calling the violists complainers. He just didn’t care that he caused the ends of their careers.”

Ehrlich believes that the same potential for injury exists with contemporary, and particularly minimalist, music. He contends that his colleagues at the San Francisco Opera Orchestra all fear the new pieces of minimalist composers. “They all know that they’re at risk for injury, and a number of them go down when those pieces are played. They expect us to perform what the human body is not designed to do.”

“Contemporary music has come to include so many styles that no sweeping generalizations can be made,” counters Elinor Armer, who has been teaching composition at the San Francisco Conservatory for the last 39 years. “Highly repetitious stuff or brutal technical demands can cause injuries—like tendonitis, carpal tunnel, and sprains—in any style, from Baroque on up to the present.” But, she admits, there are aspects of new music that make things tough for players. “I think that the unfamiliarity of new music, even tonal new music, builds tension into the learning, and that has to be dealt with, and overcome. There are specialists in new music who tackle this very issue head-on, by learning the language of the piece before ‘speaking’ it.”

Armer points out such techniques require “sympathy” and “identification” with the composer. But she thinks that a larger issue is at play: “I believe performance injuries are more likely the result of poor teaching than of compositional demands.” And the recent efforts of schools around the country, many of which are taking the health issue seriously, confirms Armer’s contention.

Education is where the Texas Center for Music and Medicine has taken the lead. A team of musicians, educators, clinicians, and research scientists are working to address music performance injuries. The goal there is to help schools come up with the appropriate curriculum to steer students away from compositional techniques that may spur a performance injury. But bringing those efforts to bear in classrooms where composition is taught is years away. To date, the Center has worked with university music departments and conservatories including the University of Southern Maine, Michigan State University, and the Eastman School of Music, among others. At some of these schools the focus is on injury prevention wherein graduate students can enroll in music medicine classes, participate in ongoing research and outreach initiatives, or select an optional related field of study in music medicine.

Although, at first sight, the field of music medicine and the study of performance injuries seems like a new one, it is but a latter day offshoot of old school occupational medicine. That discipline began in earnest with the treatise Diseases of Tradesman published in 1700 by Bernardino Ramazzini, considered the father of industrial hygiene. Ramazzini’s treatise was the first to examine the effects of things like lead poising on potters and silicosis on stonemasons. While several tracts have been written about such injuries since the 18th century, it’s a medical specialty that really got started in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The singular event that gave the discipline its greatest momentum in the music community was when pianist Gary Graffman went public in the early 1980s with his battle with focal dystonia, a neurological condition which causes undesirable muscular contraction or twisting. And the issue was further thrown into the spotlight once pianist Leon Fleisher went public with his dystonia a few years later. In one fell swoop thousands of musicians who had suffered in the dark realized that they were not alone. Many now credit Graffman and Fleisher going public as the beginning of the field of music medicine in the United States.

Today the issue is being addressed worldwide, and most aggressively at the college-age level. Through a collaborative effort called “Health Promotion in Schools of Music,” the Texas Center for Medicine and Music seeks to establish a minimum standard in music schools. That standard includes offering at least one introductory-level undergraduate course that covers relevant occupational health concerns. At present the National Association of Schools of Music, which accredits more than 500 music schools, only recommends providing such courses in the accreditation process.

However, it remains unclear how that initiative will impact the way composing is taught. At a school like the San Francisco Conservatory, classes are offered in Alexander Technique. The class is geared to all performers and not just for composers of new music. But Elinor Armer says that physical realities are acknowledged in composition classes. “We keep our composition students mindful of the practical capabilities and physical limitations of all the instruments, and the players they write for, including voice.”

For composer and composition teacher Sanchez-Gutierrez, communication may be the key in limiting potential for injuries. “I tell my composing students to push the envelope, if the piece so needs. But I make sure that they know what they’re doing, and I advise to always talk to your players. Eastman is special in that respect, as there is great synergy between composers and performers, so this sort of dialogue is constant and fruitful.”

“The hierarchical aspect of composition is a thorn in my side,” exclaims Dr. Robert Markison, a hand surgeon and associate clinical professor of surgery at the University of California at San Francisco. “There is still a great disconnect between composers and musicians. There is a lot of responsibility to look at the long haul of composing. Any modern composer, especially with access to fingering charts, should know what he or she is asking a performer to do. As a composer, I would do what Duke Ellington did. He knew every musician in his group, he knew their strong suits and he wrote music for them that’s as beautiful as what Mozart wrote for Anton Stadler.”

Markison is in a unique position to address the issue since he’s also a classical and jazz musician who has been playing the clarinet, trumpet, and flugelhorn for 40 years, but he also believes that there needs to be a deeper understanding in the medical profession of how performance injuries begin. To that end, he used a string quartet to shed light on the anatomy of musical strains when addressing this year’s incoming class at Stanford University’s Medical School. He claims he has treated more than a 1000 patients with music performance injuries since he saw his first music patient in 1975. Nowadays, he sees between 5 to 10 patients weekly, from the child prodigy to orchestral musicians approaching the end of their careers. To hear Markison tell it, the data that exists on performance injuries may just be tip-of-the iceberg numbers. The true number may never be accurately identified. “There are hidden numbers. The average person sitting in a line to audition does not want it known that they’ve had an injury.” And doctor-patient confidentiality means that many performance injuries go unreported statistically.

For composer Kurt Rohde, it is the evolution of musical form that is most important and will always trump any injury issue. He believes composers create the environment from which new performance practices are born. “The technique to play instruments has really changed. There are many people that are now playing music that was not playable before, and I think that is the progression. We all want to be the greatest composer, and to create something universal. And if that means that we have to write something that is almost impossible to play—then we do it.”

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Edward Ortiz is the classical music and opera critic for the Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining the Bee he worked as staff reporter for the Boston Globe and the Providence Journal, and is a contributor to the website San Francisco Classical Voice.