ALVIN CURRAN, NOTED COMPOSER AND PERFORMER, SPEAKS ON "MUSIC OUTSIDE THE CONCERT HALLS" AT BARD COLLEGE ON NOVEMBER 21
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The noted composer and performer Alvin Curran, will speak at Bard College on Friday, November 21. His talk, "Music outside the Concert Halls," is free and open to the public and begins at 4:00 p.m. in the lounge at Robbins House. Refreshments will be served.
"Alvin Curran is a true original. His music juxtaposes sounds of meditative beauty with occasional violent ones, electronic sounds with those of nature, avant-garde techniques with vernacular materials, and seriousness with humor, all synthesized into a mix full of fantasy and surprise," says Richard Teitelbaum, professor of music at Bard. "Alvin's personality is equally entertaining. I’m sure everyone will enjoy his presentation."
Curran says he will describe "the making of music over the last 20 years in natural 'theaters' such as caves, ports, valleys, rivers, trees, monumental steps, an entire opera house, the radio." His talk will be accompanied by slide projections and recordings. "The theme of the 'liberated' concert hall is a very relevant one just now when there is an urgent need to define what the Internet may offer as a future form of concert space," Curran says. "I hope, in this informal encounter with students at Bard, to suggest ideas about mental and physical bridges from the recent past to the near future."
Curran, the Darius Milhaud Professor of Music at Mills College, is a persistent innovator in today's new music world, bringing the whole environment into unpredictable focus through sonic fireworks, sharp wit, and timeless lyricism. A resident of Rome since 1964, Curran is a cofounder of the legendary group Musica Elettronica Viva. His solo performances, radio concerts linking several nations, and large-scale sound installations have been major new music events around the world. He has created works for the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can Allstars, Rova, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Franki Hi NRG, and San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, among others, and is a close collaborator with the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Living Theater, and Joan Jonas.
The program, presented by the Bard Music Program, is sponsored by Mellon Grant Funds. For further information, call 845-758-7250 or e-mail [email protected].
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(11.12.03)