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nEWS 2009
01 DEC 08
3 Projects Just Announced for Rio de Janeiro in December
DEC 12 to 21
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
BATE MAN
A New Theater Piece
Written & Directed by
GERALD THOMAS
Sponsored by Petrobras
and SESC Rio de Janeiro
with
Marcelo Olinto
of the Cia. dos Atores
celebrating its 20th anniversary
Original Music & Sound Design by
Patrick Grant
More
details at eVENTS
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DEC 14
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
sTRANGEmUSIC
LIVE ReMIX
From the Balcony of Ipamena Beach's
Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim
Sponsored by FUNARTE / MINC / SESC Rio de Janeiro
As part of riocenacontemporanea's 9th Annual Festival,
Patrick Grant will be giving a live performance w/ realtime
remixes of his works for theater, video & contemporary
ensemble for
the festival crowd from the balcony
of one of Rio's brightest cultural landmarks.
Between 3:00-5:00 PM
FREE
Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim
Av. Vieira Souto, 176 - Ipanema - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
Informações: 2267-1647
More
details at eVENTS
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DEC 15, 17, & 19
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
THE FUTURE OF MUSIC & SOUND ON THE STAGE
a three part lecture-demonstration-workshop
with special consideration to the upcoming
100th anniversary of the Futurist Manifesto
More iNFO HERE
Sponsored by SESC Rio de Janeiro
and CAL – Casa das Artes de Laranjeiras
FREE
open to the public
Mon-Wed-Fri
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Espaço SESC
Rua Domingos Ferreira, 160
tel:. (21) 2548-1088
From “The Art of Noise”(1913) to contemporary Noise-as-Art, this series traces the lines drawn from Marinetti’s 1909 manifesto, through the Surrealists, the Epic Theater, John Cage’s “The Future of Music: Credo,” The Living Theatre, Robert Wilson & his collaborators, Downtown New York Performance Art, and the digital boom that since the 80s has made the latter day artistic visions of what theater could be a modern day reality.
Sonically, anybody can have anything from an orchestra to a traffic jam available at their fingertips. Now that everybody is using computers and that the playing field has become so even, what qualities make certain works stand out? To find out where we’re going it’s necessary to find out where we’ve been.
This 3 part event is comprised of lecture, multi-media projection, and full of audio examples. Geared for the curious artistic community at large, by the final session, willing participants will be able to create small, staged narratives using current techniques and readily available software.
More
details at eVENTS
29 NOV 08
Theaters Against War - On The Air
web site: http://www.thawaction.org/
21 NOV 08
Happy Birthday, Delores
Wherever you are...
18 NOV 08
Guest Lecture at NYU - Tisch School of the Arts - Film School
An excerpt from a 90 min. guest lecture which demonstrates film scoring techniques using Reason 4.0 as a ReWire device in Pro-Tools 7.4
17 NOV 08
Gerald Thomas Premieres his BlogNovela “O CÃO QUE INSULTAVA MULHERES, KEPLER, THE DOG” via WebCast
Photo: Lenise Pinheiro
On November 13th, Gerald Thomas and the Dry Opera Co. premiered part 1 of his BlogNovela in a live webcast on TV IG.
You can watch a recording of it HERE
Gerald Thomas Apresenta a Primeira Blognovela da Historia
“O CÃO QUE INSULTAVA MULHERES, KEPLER, THE DOG”
Conceito, escrito e dirigido por Gerald Thomas
Com:
Fabiana Gugli
Pancho Capelletti
Duda Mamberti
Anna Americo
Luciana Froes
Simone Martins
Caca Manica
Luz: Caetano Vilela
Som: Claudia Dorei
Produção: Plato Produções (Dora Leão)
Assistência: Ivan Andrade
Realização SESC unidade Av Paulista gravação TV IG
13 NOV 08
COMPLEXO SISTEMA - Video Trailer
Video: Patricia Cividanes
30 OCT 08
Pix from "The Making of...COMPLEXO SISTEMA"
Photos & graphics by Patricia Cividanes
20 OCT 08
New Performance Added to Brazilian Itinerary: Satyrianas 2008 Theater Festival
More details HERE
13 OCT 08
"Evolution?" from the Living Theatre's EUREKA!
From the Living Theatre's multimedia stage production
Edited by Evan True & Eric Olson
Original music by Patrick Grant
05 OCT 08
NYTheatre.com Review of EUREKA! by Mitchell Conway
More photos by Jocelyn Gonzales on FLICKR
Eureka! is a fantastic show, unlike anything I've ever experienced. Whatever I describe in this review will in no way satisfactorily replicate the wonderful experience of this production because it is defined by the audience being a part of it. Being it! This performance is not passively "watched" by its audience. It is created by the performers inviting the audience to be an active part of its creation. Although there is a structure to play, most of the specifics are defined by the audience involvement. Over the period of 75 minutes, a crowd of strangers is transformed into a dynamic group singing, dancing, and celebrating the possibilities for humanity. This is truly The Living Theatre.
Director Judith Malina has fulfilled the concept of the late Hanon Reznikov, to create an interactive play based on Edgar Allan Poe's prose poem, "Eureka." This poem deals with the creation of the universe—the big bang as well as its inevitable destruction. The true beauty of this production comes from the parallel between the universe's creation and our own capacity for creation as people.
The audience enters the theatre and wanders aimlessly about a dimly lit space with tube-like beams crisscrossing the perimeter (designed by Gary Brackett). There is a low hum, and various space-like electronic sounds filling the room. Along the perimeter, the performers are scattered in stillness up among the pipes, the crew is running sound and lights, and a number of cameramen are filming the wandering audience. Two screens on either side of the room show animated imagery combined with the footage of people from the audience. Edgar Allan Poe, played by Anthony Sisco, is seated, staring intently in contemplation through the audience, bathed in a soft red spotlight.
One by one, the performers slowly move from their perches into the floor space. Alexander von Humboldt, played by Silas Inches, emerges tapping a small hammer at various points on the floor and on beams. The repeated metallic click-click-click of his hammer penetrates the low hum distinctly yet delicately. Eventually the performers corral the audience into a tight clump at the center of the space. At this point they begin a low hum. Being so close to people, I could literally feel the humming running through my chest. I was compelled to hum along. The pitch slowly rises, and the performers lead the way raising jiggling hands. As the sound climaxes, the group waving their hands in the air begins to break apart and expand, in a superb recreation of the big bang that the entire audience could feel ring through their bones. This beginning, especially after allowing the time for the audience to become slightly eager in the period of inaction preceding it, was breathtaking.
The first time the audience was asked to speak was when the performers asked what elements we felt like. The periodic table appeared on the screen and performers began by naming their respective elements in the form of a song. But once prompted, "Phosphorus!" one man hollered. "Gold!" a woman exclaimed! After many declared their elements accompanied by a representative gesture, one man excitedly called out "Wind!" as the element he connected with. To which a performer politely said, "Okay, how about Oxygen? Oxygen!"
Similar sections developed, each engaging the audience differently, and progressively asking for more initiation of the action. There was always a gentle invitation, a soft hand against the shoulder, an outreached arm with open eyes looking into mine asking for me to join, and this generosity on the part of the performers is what allowed the audience to become comfortable enough with the situation to become fully engaged in it. There was an environment where we were given the opportunity to give a little bit of ourselves to each other. The performers' fearless giving served as model for how the audience was permitted to treat them and each other.
The effect this had on the members of its audience was in many cases astounding. I watched a man leaning skeptically cross-armed against pillar for much of the beginning of the show, but by the end he was frolicking around the space, singing at full volume, grabbing people he didn't know to frolic and dance with him, and wearing an expression of utter jubilation.
The production was constantly raising questions such as: How does zero become one? Is there any point in living when we know we will end in annihilation? Is not destruction inherent in creation? Poe sporadically recites passages from the prose poem, and Humboldt brings up similarly important queries on the matter of meaning. But the answer was apparent that we were the creators of meaning. We have the possibility to offer our hands to each other and create something greater. We could just as easily wander aimlessly, disconnected, as the audience did at the beginning of the show. But after seeing the possibility of offering a hand to a stranger without fear, we are made aware of what we can create if we are willing. The terrifying void is not worth being afraid of. Emptiness is not merely nothing; it is the potential for something.
The profundity of its interactivity coupled with the grand scope of its content is remarkably intelligent and undoubtedly visionary. This play is personal, social, political, philosophical, spiritual, and a lot of fun. Judith Malina and the Living Theatre have some true wisdom to share in this production. The wisdom that you have the wisdom. You may know the science of the big bang already, but you've never experienced it like this before. - NYTheatre.com
05 SEP 08
Living Theatre to Open 2008-2009 Season with Eureka!
Based on the prose poem by Edgar Allan Poe
Performances are on Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets will be $20 with a discounted ticket of $15 for students, seniors andmilitary. The production involves audience interaction, so there are no seats and each performance can only accommodate 50 people.
The Living Theatre will begin its 2008-2009 season with the limited run of Judith Malina and Hanon Reznikov's Eureka!, based on an Edgar Allan Poe essay about the origin of the Universe.
Previews begin on Saturday, September 27, 2008 and will officially open on Wednesday, October 1. The production is directed by Judith Malina and features an original score by Patrick Grant.
Published in 1847, the "Prose Poem," as Poe called it, lays out with astonishing forethought what has since come to be called the Big Bang Theory. The Living Theatre has adapted Poe's text to a theatrical form, which will provide the audience with an awareness of participating actively in the creation of the universe and realize the parallel between the development of the elements of the cosmos and our own human development.
Eureka! was conceived and written by Hanon Reznikov when he read Poe's text - but he did not live to finish the task. Judith Malina, his collaborator and the director of the play completed the script.
The purpose of the play is to provide the audience with a sense of empowerment. By participating in the creation of the known universe we communicate the possibility of creating a more harmonious social structure. 'Eureka!' joins nearly one hundred Living Theatre productions created since 1951, all of which seek to expand our knowledge of the universe.
The cast of Eureka! features Anthony Sisco as Edgar Allan Poe, Silas Inches as Alexander von Humboldt, Gene Ardor, Yasemin Ozumerzifon, Eric Olson, Maia Larraz, Erin Downhour, Natalia De Campo, Kennedy Yanko, Enoch Wu, Katherine Nook, Isaac Scranton, Eitan Brigantonelli, and you the audience.
The Assistant Director is Brad Burgess. Set & Lighting Designer is Gary Brackett, Technical Direction is by Evan True. Choreography is by Gene Ardor.
Curious? Stop by! Here's our rehearsal schedule.
Other links:
Eureka! at TheaterMania
Eureka! at BroadwayWorld
For further information, visit www.livingtheatre.org
01 SEP 08
The DX Synthony Orchestra - 1985/86
Yes, I was very influenced by all those electronic classical albums that were so prevalent when I was a teen. When I could finally afford the gear, I made some realizations of my own as etudes and Xmas presents in ‘85 - ‘86.
Just wanted to share now that they’re digitized.
-PG
To listen: http://www.strangemusic.com/dxsynth.html
29 JUL 08
Patricia McKenna 1937-2008
Patricia E. McKenna, beloved mother, political activist and supporter of the arts, aged 70, formerly of Huntington Woods, Birmingham and Troy, Michigan, passed away in the arms of her children on July 29, 2008 in Tucson, AZ.
The daughter of Irish immigrant Patrick McKenna and Michigan native Helen Keene, she attended the Kingswood Cranbrook School and graduated in 1959 from Denison University in Ohio with a BA in Theatre and English. Her marriage in 1961 to Detroit police officer Gordon “Buck” Grant produced three children: Patrick Grant (1963), Daniel (1969) [Stacey] Grant, and Gael (1971) [Michael] Giles. Patricia and Gordon divorced in 1974.
Patricia’s many talents and interests were reflected in her multi-faceted career. Amongst the positions and activities she held were: model for the International Car Shows held in Detroit, investigative journalist for the Detroit News, director/actress of amateur theater for the Ridgedale Players in Pleasant Ridge, private investigator for a retired FBI agent (she obtained a degree in Law Enforcement and Protection from Mercy College in 1978), talent booking agent (clients included incipient comedian Tim Allen), and assisting the administration of McKenna Industries Inc., an automotive model making firm established by her late father. She was accepted as a member in the American Academy of Certified Geniuses in 1987.
In the last two decades of her life she lived in the American southwest (NM and AZ) where she wrote poetry and plays, articles for the local newspapers, fought corruption in her local government, helped youths with substance abuse problems and sponsored local immigrant families.
She will be lovingly remembered by her children and grandchildren Courtney, Meghan and Grant Thomas, her brother Michael McKenna of West Bloomfield, her nephews Mick - (Eulalia and family), Brian and niece, Stephanie. Her body will be cremated and a memorial service will be held in the greater Detroit area in Spring 2009.
17 JUL 08
Studio Museum in Harlem Opening
14 JUL 08
Original Music for a Kehinde Wiley Video at The Studio Museum in Harlem
The World Stage: Africa, Lagos ~ Dakar is Kehinde Wiley’s (b. 1977) first solo exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem (July 17-October 26, 2008) and features ten new paintings from his multinational “The World Stage” series. Wiley is known for his stylized paintings of young, urban African-American men in poses borrowed from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European figurative paintings, a practice he started in the early 2000s while an artist in residence at the Studio Museum. Over the last two years, Wiley has expanded his project by living and working abroad; he temporarily relocates to different countries and opens satellite studios to become familiar with local culture, history and art. His “The World Stage” series is the result of these travels.
For the exhibition, Patrick Grant added original music to a promotional video showing the process behind the creation of these paintings. The direct link to the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq8Yr-Se7mc
More info at: http://www.studiomuseum.org/
Time Out New York article HERE
11
JUL 08
A Commission to Score a New Theater Piece in São Paolo, Brazil
COMPLEXO SISTEMA
de Enfraquecimento da Sensibilidade
based on the writings & philosophies of
Edgar Morin & Gilles Deleuze
Written & Directed by Ruy Filho
Performed by the Cia. de Teatro Antro Exposto
São Paolo, Brazil
Premiering November 2008
=============================================
04 JUL 08
On Becoming a Recurring Character in Director GERALD THOMAS' Blog Novella
I've been many things in my day but now I'm a recurring character in theater director Gerald Thomas' BlogNovela. The blog is based in Brazil so it is in Portugeuese, of course. My character speaks it a lot more fluently that I do in reality, by far, but I am learning it in preparation for performances there later this year. Until then I'm at the mercy of BabelFish translation software and the convoluted communications it produces (Até lá I' m na mercê do software da tradução de BabelFish e das comunicações que complicado produz). See?
Below is an excerpt from my first appearance in the novella, a musical one...
You can follow the storyline as each episode gets published on Thomas' blog HERE.
01 JUL 08
A Collaboration with Nigerian Musicians
Ogunyemi "Titus" Oladimeji, a violist from Lagos, Nigeria (pictured above on the left), has initiated a project with Patrick Grant for string quartet. Titus and musicians have been recording and collecting local songs from their region and are presenting them to PG as the musical material from which new compositions will be written. This group has presented the African premieres of other works by Grant in 2007, amongst them Hip-Hop Experience and are currently working on Children at War (see below) and a quartet arrangement of Three Choral Pieces in Latin.
More
details TBA
22 JUN 08
"Children at War - 1988" - Music for Strings
SONYC: String Orchestra of New York City performs "Children at War - 1988" at ComposerCollaborative's Music for a Change, part of the city-wide Make Music New York festival, June 21, 2008.
Premiered at The New Theater, this is a Cold War piece written for Protean Forms Collective’s Spring ‘88 New Works Festival. It was the last summer of Reagan’s Presidency, New Wave was old, nuclear holocaust television dramas were the entertainment, and the events that led up to the Tompkins Square Park Riots were brewing. Musically, the piece uses that age-old pentatonic (Eastern scale) taunt used by children in many cultures (c-A-d-c-A) as a sonic commentary on the inherent childishness of violence. This is placed in various formations and textures against minimalist rhythms and harmonies (Western) prevalent in New York City in the late 80s.
See pictures from the full day's event HERE.
16 JUN 08
APEIROPHOBIA - a fantasy concept album
For summer 2008, Patrick Grant has signed a deal to compose and produce a fantasy concept album for children of all ages, APEIROPHOBIA, with the Australian MC Larry Trevelyan. Part contemporary hip-hop and part orchestral soundtrack, it is about a young witch who is terrified of infinity itself. She casts a spell to eradicate infinity's existence without first contemplating the consequences that follow.
More
details TBA
06 JUN 08
PG to Sound Design & Mix for New Documentary About 80s Band KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS
"Kid Creole and My Coconuts" is a new documentary by producer, director and "Mama Coconut" Adriana Kaegi about the rise and fall and rise again of the 80s multicultural tropical funk machine "Kid Creole and the Coconuts" called by many "the best live band in the world."
Kid Creole and the Coconuts are an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Their music incorporates styles like big band jazz, disco, and in particular Caribbean/Latin American salsa. The Coconuts are a glamorous trio of female backing vocalists whose lineup has changed throughout the years. Darnell began producing for other artists before adopting the name Kid Creole (from the Elvis Presley film King Creole) in 1980, and forming The Coconuts, a trio of female backing vocalist/dancers, including his wife Adriana Kaegi, and a band including his associate vibraphone player Andy Hernandez aka Coati Mundi, who served as co-leader as well as musical director and arranger.
One of their standout works was Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places, a concept album matched with a New York Public Theatre stage production; it received rave reviews, and Darnell was recognized as a clever lyricist and astute composer, arranger and producer.
The documentary features concert footage, never-before-seen home movies, and a new interview/commentary with producer and ex-coconut Kaegi with "The Punk Professor" Vivien Goldman. The movie is edited by Peter Shelton.
For more iNFO, go to the "Kid Creole and My Coconuts" documentary's official web site HERE.
01 JUN 08
WHITNEY BIENNIAL BROADCAST - Transistor Radio Theatre - May 31
Storefront studio at 941 Madison Avenue
Running original music & sound design cues off of LIVE 7 into the board
Foley crew and actors
Transistor Radio Theatre w/ producer Sigi Arnejo (center)
21 MAY 08
Three Choral Pieces in Latin Completed
the guidonian hand
Whew. Just finished some choral music in Latin no less that was commissioned by Bruce Barrett who just loves music from 1350-1750. This was a real switch for me. Good thing I remembered that modal counterpoint book I read during breaks when I drove a car service back in ‘86!
It's all pretty foreboding yet otherworldly sounding stuff and a couple of centuries behind the times even though there's plenty of 21st century rule breaking going on that fed my interest in doing it. It'll be hard for all but a few folks to catch any of the genre-hopping mash-ups going on here because it’s bouncing around stylistically anywhere between 1350 and 1750 though I did throw in plenty of contemporary twists and turns.
The real trick is to see if it can get a performance or better yet, to get a recording. THEN it might sound like something, that is, with the human expression that an acappella vocal group would bring to it.
Any inquiries are welcome.
THREE CHORAL PIECES IN LATIN (2008)
SATB chorus
music by Patrick Grant
text by Bruce Barrett
Full Score in PDF - 788 kb
MP3s using flute, oboe, clarinet & bassoon samples:
1. Hymnus Aretini - 5.8 MB - 6:22
2. Aliquo ad Orientem Paradisi - 9.8 MB - 10:46
3. Motetus (using text from Psalms 136, 137 & 138) - 8.8 MB - 9:36
4. Hymnus Aretini (alternate version) - 3.6 MB - 3:57
More iNFO and text HERE
19 MAY 08
"JACKTOWN": a very B-Movie from 1962 starring my grandfather, Gordon Grant, as Lefty the prison inmate
I've heard legend of this movie in my family since I was a kid but never saw it because it came out before I was born. Even then, my grandfather died when I was an infant so I never knew him let alone could I recall what his voice sounded like etc. Now, with everything it seems available on DVD, I was able to finally see him in action. Wow, what a big and burly dude he was though by all accounts he was real teddy bear of a man (much unlike Lefty seen here) and much loved by family and community.
In this drama, a punk is caught messing around with a 15-year-old girl in the back seat of his car, gets arrested for statutory rape and is sentenced to Southern Michigan Prison. There he is cared for by the kindly warden who lets him tend his beloved garden. Their friendship is destroyed when the warden's daughter falls for the young convict. During a prison riot, the boy escapes and is concealed by his lover. Eventually he turns himself in. His girl promises to wait for him. The film was shot on location and includes actual newsreel footage of the prison's 1952 riots. Directed by William Martin.
Scene 1: Gordon Grant (Lefty) and Richard Meade (Frankie).
Scene 2: Again with Gordon Grant (Lefty) and Richard Meade (Frankie).
07 MAY 08
HIP-HOP EXPERIENCE THE HIGHLIGHT OF A YOUNG EIGHT CONCERT IN SEATTLE
The Young Eight, America's only professional touring string octet and led by Seattle U Director of Chamber and Instrumental Music, Quinton Morris, knocked 'em dead with a performance of one of the Hip-Hop Experience series that I created for Kehinde Wiley from hip-hop themes. The Seattle University Spectator writes:
The night peaked with the performance of "Hip Hop Experience I." Four performers returned to the stage wearing black dress shoes, jeans and either a collared shirt and blazer or blouse, to unanimously declare, "One-two-three!" before playing Outkast's "Hey Ya."
The Young Eight transitioned smoothly into Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," invoking a few chuckles and many grins. They continued into a plethora of hip-hop hits including Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It" and The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps." The Eight performed with their whole bodies. With each glide of the bow, their upper bodies rocked into and out of the note and their faces winced and furrowed with concentration.
Read the full review from the Seattle University Spectator HERE.
03 MAY 08
The Death of Hanon Reznikov (1950-2008)
Very sad news. Writer, performer and director Hanon Reznikov, husband of Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina, died today of complications from a stroke suffered on April 13. I worked and collaborated with him on many projects since 1990 and I will miss him deeply.
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MP3: Scene 7 from The Zero Method
performed by Hanon Reznikov (author) and Judith Malina
Recorded from an Italian radio broadcast, 1992.
"Whereof I cannot speak, thereof I must remain silent" - Ludwig Wittgenstein
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"Don't speak of death or wounds or melancholy things. Change the discourse if you can."
- Rule 62 from "110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation," text attributed to George Washington and adapted for the stage by Hanon Reznikov, 1991.
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MP3: Five
Songs from "THE RULES OF CIVILITY" - 5'51"
music for 2 singers, flute, oboe, trumpet, 2 horns,
timpani, organ, harpsichord & strings
This is a section from a scene of the chamber opera based
upon text by George Washington who, as a teen, wrote 110 Rules
of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. The scoring
is for 13 period instruments from the 18th century and reflects the highly baroque
and antiquated nature of, these often hilarious, rules. These particular five
songs are all of the ones that deal with how to eat at the table and, in the opera,
are used as a dark counterpoint to a staging that depicts the horrors of war by Hanon Reznikov of the Living Theatre. The singers are Joanie Fritz
Zosike, mezzo-soprano, and Robert Hieger, tenor.
PDF
Score - 51 pp - 1.8 MB
1.
Don't sit at the head of the table unless it is your proper place or if the master
of the house wishes it. It is the decent thing to do to give anyone at table a
meal. Try to help others unless your master desires it not.
2. Pay attention when others talk at the table. Don't lay your arm but only your hand on the table. Keep your fingers clean and when dirty wipe them on a napkin.
3. Don't eat in the street or in the house out of season. Don't eat too leisurely or too hastily. Don't spit, don't scratch, don't cough or blow your nose except when really necessary. Don't cut your bread with a greasy knife.
4. Don't put your food in your mouth with a knife. Don't stare while you are eating. Don't put another bite of food in until the first bite is finished (gone) and do not talk when your mouth is full.
5.
Don't get angry at the table no matter what should happen especially if there
are strangers present you should put on a cheerful face. Good humor makes one
dish of food a feast.
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21 APR 08
THE MODERN 'TIL MIDNIGHT: Hip-Hop Experience VI in Fort Worth, April 18
a co-commision of the Modern Museum of Fort Worth, Kehinde Wiley Studio, & Deitch Projects
The Chancellor Seguier on Horseback (2005) currently on view at the Modern Museum Fort Worth
Collection of Jean Pigozzi, Geneva
PG introducing the Trimble Tech HS Marching Band before the performance of Focus Fort Worth: Hip-Hop Experience VI, a sTRANGEmUSIC mash-up of Fanfare for the Common Man, Buffalo Soldier, War, Jesus Walks, Golddigger, Crazy in Love, Gangsta Paradise, Ridin' Dirty, Good Life, Umbrella, My Humps, Push It, Low, Stronger, and Don't Stop the Music.
Black faces are rarely seen on the walls of art museums. Contemporary painter Kehinde Wiley is singlehandedly changing that. His paintings that marry historical portraits of popes, emperors and saints and replace the decrepit old white guys with handsome young African-American men in the same poses are changing the demographics of art-museum representation.
Three of his large, arresting portraits of street toughs dressed in sagging jeans and hoodies posed on horses like conquering heroes are hanging on the walls of Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. It's one of the most dynamic "Focus" shows in the Modern's history.
Wiley's subjects look down from the walls with imperious expression. On the street, they would look dangerous, but on canvas, the proud bearing and haughtiness mimics that of the original sitters. No one is reaching out to this disenfranchised group to include them in the art canon the way Wiley does.
For his Texas debut, Wiley chose three of his monumental equestrian works. Their titles reference three obscure original works titled Colonel Platoff on his Charger, Prince Tommaso Francesco of Savoy and The Chancellor Seguier on Horseback.
At a museum party Friday night they were greeted with fanfare provided by the Trimble Tech Marching Band...This is typical of a Wiley first night; he includes the musical preferences of his sitters played by musicians their age. "I like to have fun with my shows," Wiley said in a National Public Radio interview, "to get rid of the high seriousness with the art."
The Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX
NOTE: ensembles interested in scores & parts to this and other mash-ups of the hip-hop experience created for Kehinde Wiley (for string quartet, baroque ensemble, marching band, etc.) please inquire by sending an email to: iNFO@strangemusic.com.
01 MAR 08
Capoiera NYC: Sound Design for Rockstar Energy Drink by dGoMedia
Here's a capoiera-themed promo by dGoMedia for Rockstar Energy Drink that I worked on last week. Amongst other elements (like recording the traffic on the FDR out of my studio window), that's 18 tracks of me clapping my hands off to match the energy of the featured dancer/athlete/fighters.
Director: Chris Zonnas, Producer: Donn Gobin, Editor: Matt Grzan/DV8R Post
15
FEB 08
New Commission for Music at the Modern Museum in Fort Worth, TX
The
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Kehinde Wiley
Studio & Deitch Projects have commissioned Patrick Grant to
create live music for large ensemble especially for the opening gala on the night
of April 18th.
FOCUS:
Kehinde Wiley
Exhibition April 19–May 25, 2008
Kehinde
Wiley creates larger-than-life-size portraits that mix historical Western
European painting styles such as French Romanticism, Rococo, and Baroque with
images from contemporary urban streets. The resulting monumental works are painted
in Wiley’s characteristic, flamboyant style and presented in ornate gold
frames. While the artist evokes important and highly recognizable paintings from
the past, he replaces those works’ elite white sitters with African-American
men.
Modern Art
Museum-Fort Worth
3200 Darnell St
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817)
738-9215
More
details
01
FEB 08
Found on Web: International Strange Music Day
- August 24
Wow.
I've been kidding around about this since I founded Strange Music in 1998. And
now it's a news item on the web, so it must be real! So, let's say
that this Sunday, August 24, 2008 will be the First Annual Strange Music Marathon?
With composers and musicians of all kinds from all over? Yeah, I like the sound
of it. Anyway, August needs a holiday for those of us without summer homes...
More
details TBA
28
JAN 08
'Maudie & Jane' Extends thru March 9
Living
Theatre logo created by Jean Cocteau
The
Living Theatre (19-21 Clinton St.) will extend its production of Maudie
& Jane, an adaptation of The Diary of Jane Somers, starring Judith Malina as Maudie and with Monica Hunken taking over the role
of Jane, in which an old bag lady seduces a high-profile fashion editor into taking
care of her. The production will now run until March 9.
The official opening was on December 7. Hanon Reznikov Directs.
The Assistant Director is Brad Burgess. Set & Lighting Designer is Gary Brackett, and music is by Patrick Grant.
Performances
are on Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM; Sundays at 4PM. Tickets are $20. Students
pay $10. Wednesday is "Pay What You Can" night and seating is on a first
come first serve basis. For further information, visit www.livingtheatre.org.
25
JAN 08
FEET
IN 2 WORLDS: PG Contributes Musical Theme for FI2W Podcasts
Feet
in 2 Worlds is a project of The
Center for New York City Affairs at The New School and WNYC
Public Radio.
Covering
ethnic communities in your city is one thing. Covering your city from an immigrant
perspective is something else altogether. Through training and mentoring immigrant
journalists, the Feet
in 2 Worlds project brings new voices into the discussions of immigration,
globalization and transnational culture. The award-winning program gives public
radio listeners a unique window into the lives of immigrant communities while
at the same time helping immigrant journalists advance their careers. We also
sponsor town hall events on issues of critical importance to immigrants, and help
public radio stations around the nation work with ethnic media in their local
communities.
The musical ins & outs of these podcasts are by Patrick
Grant with performers John
Ferrari and Don
Vitsentzos.
Listen
and/or subscribe to the podcasts HERE
01
JAN 08
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
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