Winds of Change: Shakuhachi, Didgeridoo and Clarinet
New Music and Evolving World Traditions
Beth Custer, clarinets; Cornelius Boots, shakuhachi; Stephen Kent, didgeridoo
An evening of breath-powered music prowess from Bay Area luminaries, international innovators
Beth Custer, Cornelius Boots, and Stephen Kent. In solo, duo and trio configurations they will perform original compositions, arrangements, traditional repertoire, and improvisations.
All of life is breathing; wind instruments have the deepest history among all instruments. Why? When the creative impulse of the universe finds its voice, we have the no-limits, soul-based lineage of woodwind wizardry: symbiotic sound art between humans and plant consciousness. Reeds, bamboo, trees and branches working with the imagination. Winds of Change means expressing this truth, making a joyful noise and finding our deeper, truer connections; heralding a change from the fever dreams of the mind and to the vastness of the heart.
More about the performers:
Cornelius Boots is a woodwind composer-performer, bamboo shakuhachi master, breathing ambassador and educator. Active internationally since 1990, his love affair with reeds and bamboo began at age 9. He is currently creating adventurous new music hymns & anthems in a style of expressive woodwind performance that can be called hermit blues or bamboo gospel. Boots is a relentless pioneer and recovering perfectionist who aims to be a fun-loving, professional woodwind wizard, and inspiring shakuhachi performer, contributing to the repertoire and evolution of certain woodwinds, first bass clarinet and now shakuhachi. Previously, Boots was the founder and leader of Edmund Welles: the bass clarinet quartet and Sabbaticus Rex (easy listening for dinosaurs). He has contributed to film scores and collaborative projects, released over 20 albums as a leader and created dozens of original scores and instructional materials for his private lesson studio. corneliusboots.com
Beth Custer is a San Francisco based composer, performer, bandleader, and the proprietor of BC Records. She composes for theatre, film, dance, television, installations and the concert stage. Beth has created scores for the contemporary chamber ensembles Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Zeitgeist, Earplay, City Winds, and Turtle Island and Kronos String Quartets; for the theatre productions of Campo Santo Theatre, Berkeley and San Diego Repertory Theatres, Magic Theatre, California Shakespeare, Overtone Industries, and Cornerstone Theatre; for the dance troupes Joe Goode Goode Performance Group, Roco Dance, Flyaway Productions, Ledoh, Harupin Ha, and Osseus Labyrinth; for the films of Cathy Lee Crane, Melinda Stone, Betsy Bayha, KQED, CBS/Film Roman, and Koohan Paik (aka Camera Obscura). Beth has created four musicals with award winning writer Octavio Solis. Her collaborative scores with inventor and MacArthur Fellow Trimpin lead her to compose Vinculum Symphony, a site-specific, large-scale work that unites chamber musicians with experimental instrument builders. She has over twenty-five recordings out with her ensembles Eighty Mile Beach, Clarinet Thing, Trance Mission, The
Beth Custer Ensemble and Club Foot Orchestra. Her numerous awards include a six week artist residency in an Italian castle at Civitella Ranieri. bethcuster.com
Multi Instrumentalist and composer Stephen Kent‘s musical career has taken him across five continents, living at various times in the UK, Spain, East Africa, Australia and the US. His musical scores, composed for theatre, circus and dance companies, have received international acclaim and his work as a performer and recording artist has established him in the world music scene, exploring a broad range of playing styles and musical genres. As a performer on the Australian Aboriginal Didjeridu he has pioneered its use in contemporary music across the globe collaborating with a number of musicians, including Airto Moreira (Brasil), Zakir Hussain (India), Habib Koite (Mali), Omar Sosa (Cuba), Leonard Eto (Japan), Choi Jong Sil (Korea), Steve Roach (USA) and many more. Stephen also hosts Music of the World, a weekly show on Pacifica Radio’s KPFA. stephenkent.net
*General Admission: $25
*Seniors (65 and over): $20
Full time Student w/ID: $5
Kids under 12: FREE