From the Blog

• Xenakis: Thallein

  September 12, 2011

  

  Greek composer and iconic noise pioneer Iannis Xenakis was a composer, a mathematician, an architect, a mystic, and a radical music theorist. We are really looking forward to performing one of his mind-bending ensemble works, Thallien, as a part of our Chance Encounters program at the MCA on October 5th. Comissioned in 1984 by the London Sinfonietta, Thallien means “budding”, "to sprout", or "to shoot forth". Listen to an excerpt of ICE's rendition of Thallein below. Also, check out the video below, featuring ICE rehearsing another Xenakis piece, Échange, at Miller Theater with the singular Steven Schick at the baton.

• Webern - Concerto for Nine Instruments, Op. 24 (Rehearsal Excerpt)

  September 16, 2011

  

  In anticipation of our upcoming Chance Encounters program at the MCA in Chicago, we are breaking out Anton Webern's Concerto for Nine Instruments, Op. 24. This is an impressive piece of music filled with astonishing symmetries, patterns, and revolutions, all generated from a small amount of material. We'll spare you the details, but all of you curious aficionados can get the scoop from Kathryn Bailey's paper "Symmetry as Nemesis: Webern and the First Movement of the Concerto, Op. 24". Listen to a recording of ICE rehearsing the piece below. For those of you in the Chicago area, don't miss ICE's performance of this piece during our Chance Encounters performance at the MCA on October 5th!

• Share your “Chance Encounters” Stories with us on Facebook; we’ll give you a Morton Feldman button!

  September 21, 2011

  

  One evening in 1950, Morton Feldman and John Cage ran into each other on the way out after a performance of a piece by Anton Webern. This chance encounter led to a long and artistically fruitful friendship between two of the most powerful voices of the century. We think this is a truly incredible story, and we've decided to build an evening of music around it (Chance Encounters on the MCA Stage hits Chicago October 5th!), but we also recognize that chance encounters happen everywhere, every day. To this end, we'll be sharing stories of chance encounters from ICE members and Chicago friends on this blog and on our Facebook page periodically between now and October 5th, and we encourage you to join in. Please post your "chance encounters" stories on our Facebook page; we'll give you one of these excellent Morton Feldman buttons!

• Rehearsal Photos from John Cage’s “Imaginary Landscape #4” for 12 radios and 24 players (1951)

  September 8, 2011

  

  Even in the world of contemporary music, it's not every day you come across a piece written for 12 radios. John Cage's Imaginary Landscape #4 for 12 radios and 24 players (1951) is a startling display, both visually and aurally. The resulting sounds are an excellent example of the musical potential of carefully controlled indeterminacy. Chicagoans—don't miss Chance Encounters at the MCA on October 5th, which will include this piece alongside works by Morton Feldman, Anton Webern, Pauline Oliveros, and Iannis Xenakis! We'll be the first to tell you that it's quite a sight, but you don't have to take our word for it: rehearsal photos provide a sneak peak below:

• Pauline Oliveros and Deep Listening

  September 22, 2011

  

  Visionary composer, performer, theorist, and educator Pauline Oliveros has been a major force in contemproary music for decades. Her early forays into electronic music have inspired several important developments in the area, and her practice and research in the area of Deep Listening (a term which Oliveros herself coined) has led her to perform and record in "resonant spaces such as caves, cathedrals and huge underground cisterns" with her ensembles. Watch a video of Oliveros performing and answering questions below (courtesy of our friends at Roulette TV). We'll be presenting Oliveros' Double X for 8 players (which was originally written for the Webern ensemble) as a part of Chance Encounters on the MCA Stage in Chicago on October 5th. Don't miss it!

• John Cage - 8’10” Explained

  September 29, 2011

  

  According to ICE flutist and Executive Director Claire Chase, 8'10" is "an ICE-style mash-up of several different Cage pieces". The pieces stand alone, but can also be performed in succession or even interwoven, with parts of different pieces performed simultaneously, or different parts of the same piece performed simultaneously. The list includes: 45' for a Speaker 27' 10.554" for a percussionist (1956) 34' 46.776'' for a pianist (1954) 26' 1.1499'' for a string player (1955) In each of these works, the minute is the adjustment mechanism: the performers are given one minute to interpret each page of music, and, at the end of each minute, are required to move on to the next page. Claire notes, "Some pages are dense, others are sparse; some involve actions such as blowing one's nose, snoring, or waving a fist in the air. As in all Cage works, marvelous happenings, both wonderfully synchronous and enchantingly discordant, take place that could never be rehearsed, and never be repeated."

• Claire Chase on “Chance Encounters”

  September 19, 2011

  

  ICE flutist, Executive Director, and all-around baller Claire Chase discusses Chance Encounters. Chicagoans: please join us for the experience on October 5th at the MCA!

• Chance Encounters with Torkwase Dyson and Tristan Hummel

  September 28, 2011

  

  Torkwase Dyson is an artist that defies simple categorization. In her own words (via Slo-Mo): "As a multi-media artist I create colorful hyper-real composites to magnify relationships between urban quotidian objects, global material economies, fashion and pollution. My work is a combination of popular culture apparel and recycled materials up-cycled into satirical allegories. I re-circulate materials associated with race, ethnicity, hip-hop, spirituality, capitalism and the global economy to address black cultural production as an ecological concern." Tristan Hummel is a creative artist working across a number of areas. He is the mastermind of Art on Track. In his own words: "I'm always looking for creative projects to work on. The more difficult, intense, bizarre or specialized a project is the more it holds my interest. It’s because I want to be the first one in a new territory. There is an intense calm to being in that kind of space, like an astronaut, alone but with the freedom of absolute movement and direction."

• Chance Encounters with Thomas Robertello

  September 29, 2011

  

  Thomas Robertello runs the Thomas Robertello Gallery, which exhibits contemporary artwork in all media. Q: What are you working on these days? A: I am working with Brooklyn-based artist Jason Robert Bell (pictured in the photo I sent) on a year-long project in my gallery. Jason is very prolific and works in many different media; drawing, painting, sculpture, video, performance. His work slowly reveals a complicated mysticism and a richly varied account of the state of mankind. He is showing work in the project space of my West Loop gallery for a year.

• Chance Encounters with Steven Schick

  September 30, 2011

  

  Simply put, Steven Schick is one of the most brilliant musical minds we've ever encountered. Also simply put, he's one of our favorite people. We asked Steve a couple of questions about fortuitous events past and present, in addition to exciting plans for the future.

• Chance Encounters with Pauline Oliveros

  October 3, 2011

  

  Our Chance Encounters series continues with the incredible Pauline Oliveros - here is a bit about what she's been up to and who she's met lately: Chicagoans: ICE will perform Pauline Oliveros' Double X for 8 players on Wednesday during Chance Encounters on the MCA Stage. Tickets are still available - reserve yours today!

• Chance Encounters with Nicolas Hodges

  September 23, 2011

  

  For those of you who haven't seen our call for "chance encounters" stories, we're asking you all to submit short stories describing any chance meeting that you've had that in some way altered the course of your life. Just post them on your Facebook wall and tag us in the post, or (alternatively) post them on our wall, and we'll give you a Morton Feldman button! One of the early responses we've received is from the unparalleled pianistNicolas Hodges (by the way, you should really buy all of his albums)...and it's a story about a chance encounter Morton Feldman himself!

• Chance Encounters with Marc Geelhoed

  September 26, 2011

  

  In the days leading up to our upcoming Chance Encounters program at the MCA Chicago, we'll been posting a series of "chance encounters" spotlighting a few of the many Chicagoans who we feel are doing interesting and exciting things in the arts. Here is the first encounter, featuring our good friend Marc Geelhoed!

• Chance Encounters with Esther Grimm

  September 27, 2011

  

  This next chance encounter features Esther Grimm, Executive Director of 3Arts, a vital arts non-profit in Chicago. Q: What are you working on these days? A: Phew! So many things. But at the top of the pile is the upcoming 3Arts Awards, which takes place at the MCA on October 3. This is my favorite night of the year. I mean, how great is it to honor and give back to Chicago artists—and hand out 12 $15,000 unrestricted grants to the new awardees? In my opinion, it is more than great; it is sublime. This year, in addition to featuring a bunch of fabulous musical performances, we will unveil a two new programs at the event, so I am literally dancing (not exceptionally well) around the office with excitement.

• Chance Encounters with Dominic Johnson and Julia Rhoads

  October 4, 2011

  

  Julia Rhoads is a choreographer who has been described as "Chicago's resident surrealist" in the Chicago Sun Times, and "adept at both provocative and humorous material" in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art. Since founding Lucky Plush Productions in 1999, she has created over 30 original works with the company including performance installations, 2 dance films and 8 evening-length interdisciplinary productions. Julia currently teaches in the theater department at Columbia College Chicago and the dance department at Northwestern University. Violist Dominic Johnson is currently the Executive Director and principal violist of the New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, an ensemble he co-founded in 2005. He has performed with artists as diverse as Brian Wilson, Josh Groban, Transiberian Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ray Lamontagne, and has led the NMOC ensemble in performances with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dj Spooky, Michael Kang from String Cheese Incident, eighth blackbird, and rapper Lupe Fiasco.

• Chance Encounters on the MCA Stage TONIGHT!

  October 4, 2011

  

  Chance Encounters on the MCA Stage is tonight! A limited number of tickets are still available - please call 312.397.4010 or place your order online. Don't forget to check out the "chance encounters" gallery above (simply click on any part of the image above to read a "chance encounter" with the person pictured). Thanks, and we hope to see you tonight!