The Paul Dresher Ensemble with
Amy X Neuburg will present the program they first premiered at Cal Performances at the end of 2014 — “They Will Have Been So Beautiful” — at Zspace in San Francisco. Besides Dresher and Neuburg, the program features works by composers Lisa Bielawa, Jay Cloidt, Conrad Cummings,
Fred Frith, Guillermo Galindo, Carla Kihlstedt,
Ken Ueno, and
Pamela Z. Immediately following this event, the program will travel to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
They Will Have Been So Beautiful is inspired by photographer Diane Arbus’s quest to discover the epic in what is more often seen as commonplace and mundane. As formulated in her 1963 application to the Guggenheim Foundation, Arbus eloquently and poetically defines her then-revolutionary aesthetic, that the commonplace habits, rituals and social spaces of everyday life hold a meaning and importance that will only be understood in the future, because “they will have been so beautiful.” This visionary (and then controversial) proposition provides the inspiration for our commissioning project.
The Performers
The Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band:
Beth Custer: clarinet/bass clarinet
Joel Davel: Marimba Lumina
Paul Dresher: electric guitar and bass
Zack Miley: Sound Engineer
Marja Mutru: keyboards
Karen Bentley Pollick: violin and viola
John Schott: electric guitar
Videos featuring musicians playing at this event
BREATHING is a movement from Carbon Song Cycle (a inter-media chamber work by composer/performer Pamela Z and visual artist Christina McPhee). The work was originally written for voice & electronics, bassoon, viola, cello, percussion, and tape. This is a solo version performed by the composer (with just voice, processing, and tape), recorded at a 3/13/2014 duo concert with Joan La Barbara as part of the 2014 ROOM Series. Pamela Z is using a gesture controller (designed and built by Donald Swearingen). © 2013 Last Letter Music (ASCAP)