The Workshop/Concert Proposal

It wasn't until October, 1994 that he first asked for his music to be performed without his active participation. Until that point, Tudor's music depended entirely on the direct involvement of his own musical character. Consciously releasing the notion of exclusive personal involvement, David Tudor accepted how his music might change with others performing it.

At present, Tudor's music reaches only a limited audience. We are initiating a project which will enable the continuation and presentation of his music in a live performance setting. It will be a valuable opportunity for both the knowledgeable and the curious to learn and ask questions about how David Tudor approached his music making.

Our work with, and on behalf of David Tudor has contributed greatly to the public understanding and accessibility to his music. These contributions have been through recordings, archival work, and live performances of a body of music which , until now, has only been performed by Tudor himself. With this combined experience we have a valuable knowledge of how he approached the composition, realization and presentation of his works. Our past performances have been under the auspices of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, in solo concerts, and in gallery events all over the world.

Goals

Now more than ever it is important to make a determined effort to keep David Tudor's music active within the platform for which it was composed - the live performance. The first, and most essential goal of this project, is to perform Tudor's music. These performances will feature several of Tudor's works, representing a variety of his styles and aesthetics.

The second goal is to share as much information about David Tudor's music with our audience as we can. In order to generate an increased interest in this music, attention must be paid to educating the listeners, whether they have previous experience of his work or not. We hope that by unleashing some of this information it may encourage others to learn, explore and eventually perform Tudor's compositions; opening up a lesser known music and allowing more people to have the opportunity to experience it from both the listening and the performing perspectives.

Details

Lecture/Workshop: As mentioned above, the proposed presentation would include a lecture/workshop. It's our goal to take what information we have at our disposal and examine what is happening within the context of a Tudor composition. The lecture/workshop would cover a general overview of Tudor's processes in conception, realization and performance. Participants will hear live excerpts of the pieces to be performed later in the concert, and given an "under the hood" perspective of the often complex network of electronic instruments used in performance.

Concert Program: The program(s) for these performances will include some or all of the following works (please note that one concert would consist of three pieces):

Neural Network Plus (Two performers)
Toneburst/Untitled
(With simultaneous performance of Cage's 62 Mesostics Re: Merce Cunningham)
Toneburst: Maps and Fragments (With visual art by Sophia Ogielska)
Rainforest (Two or more performers)
5 Stone Wind(With simultaneous performance of Cage's piece of the same name)
Pulsers
Phonemes
Dialects

These works represent an overview of Tudor's compositions, covering 25 years of his work. For any given concert/lecture presentation, a selection of pieces will be made so as to expose the audience to a variety of the technical features and musical styles found within the body of Tudor's music.

Conclusion

A lecture/workshop and performance of the music of David Tudor will prove to be a highly educational and inspirational experience for any audience of contemporary music. It will be a valuable opportunity for the public to hear these rarely performed pieces as they should be heard, while it also serves as a historical look at the aspects of live electronic performance as established by David Tudor and John Cage.

We hope to apply our own knowledge, tap into the knowledge of others, and help to continue the magic of David Tudor's music.

For more information, bookings, or to request a formal, written proposal please contact: John D.S. Adams (john@stonehousesound.com)
or D'Arcy Philip Gray (starchy@cam.org).