Alvin Curran: The Containment Etudes 10-07-2020

EARly is proud to present a live streaming performance of “THE CONTAINMENT ETUDES”, one of the last composition by one of the greatest composer, keyboardist and performer of our times, ALVIN CURRAN.

Date: July 10th, 2020

Time: 8.30 p.m. Italy (CEST) = 7.30 p.m. London = 2.30 p.m. NYC = 3.30 a.m. Tokio = 4.30 a.m. Sidney

A “replay” will be available after acquiring a ticket.

All the proceeds from this streaming session will go to the Artist, as for all the other initiatives of EARly.

www.earlygroup.org

NOTES BY ALVIN CURRAN:
During these months of pandemic, I threw myself into an autobiographical tizzy, deciding to start an extensive recording project – entitled “ The Containment Etudes”- utilizing my current archive of some 3000 plus sound files, which have been mapped to Midi-Keys – all accessible and playable by me in any given moment –yes, a sonic biography some 50 years in the making. With longish lapses, I have recorded some 5 hours of this material, using so far an eighth of my files. This continues at its own pace, probably until the end of this year.

ALVIN CURRAN’S BIOGRAPHY:
Democratic, irreverent and traditionally experimental, Curran travels in a computerized covered wagon between the Golden Gate and the Tiber River, and makes music for every occasion with any sounding phenomena — a volatile mix of lyricism and chaos, structure and indeterminacy, fog horns, fiddles and fiddle heads. He is dedicated to the restoration of dignity to the profession of making non-commercial music as part of a personal search for future social, political and spiritual forms.
Curran’s music-making embraces all the contradictions (composed/improvised, tonal/atonal, maximal/minimal…) in a serene dialectical encounter. His more than 200 works feature taped/sampled natural sounds, piano, synthesizers, computers, violin, percussion, shofar, ship horns, accordion and chorus. Whether in the intimate form of his well-known solo performances, or pure chamber music, experimental radio works or large-scale site-specific sound environments and installations, all forge a very personal language from all the languages through dedicated research and recombinant invention.
THE MAIN STORY
Providence, 1952, between azalea and rhododendron.
With a fortuitous bang, he begins his musical journey (1965 in Rome) as co-founder of the radical music collective MUSICA ELETTRONICA VIVA, as a solo performer, and as a composer for Rome’s avantgarde theater scene. In the 70’s, he creates a poetic series of solo works for synthesizer, voice, taped sounds and found objects. Seeking to develop new musical spaces, and now considered one of the leading figures in making music outside of the concert halls — he develops a series of concerts for lakes, ports, parks, buildings, quarries and caves — his natural laboratories. In the 1980’s, he extends the ideas of musical geography by creating simultaneous radio concerts for three, then six large ensembles performing together from many European Capitals. By connecting digital samplers to MIDI Grands (Diskklavier) and computers, since 1987, he produces an enriched body of solo performance works — an ideal synthesis between the concert hall and all sounding phenomena in the world. He creates a visually striking series of sound installations, some of them in collaboration with visual artists including Paul Klerr, Melissa Gould, Kristin Jones, Pietro Fortuna, Umberto Bignardi, Uli Sigg. Throughout these years he continues to write numerous pieces for radio and for acoustic instruments.
TEACHING
Prof. Curran and students in Riti Marittimi, Laghetto of Villa Borghese, Rome 1979. From 1975-80 taught vocal improvisation at the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica (Rome) and from 1991 to 2006 was the Milhaud Professor of Composition at Mills College in Oakland, California. Currently teaching privately in Rome in addition to master classes, residencies, and lectures at Oberlin, Peabody, Brown, Berkeley, The Hague, Haifa, Harvard, Beijing, Bolzano, Mainz, Northwestern, Yale, etc.
FORMATIVE YEARS
Born December 13, 1938, Providence, Rhode Island. From five years: piano lessons, trombone, marching bands, Synagogue chants, Jazz, and his father’s dance bands. Becomes an artist at age 13 in an apple tree at the house of his lifelong friend, poet Clark Coolidge. Hears Spike Jones, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Satchmo, The Boston Symphony Orcherstra, Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, The Band of America, Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Bartok and Christian Wolff.
Studies composition with Ron Nelson (B.A. Brown University 1960) and with Elliott Carter and Mel Powell ( M.Mus., Yale School of Music 1963). During summer vacations, plays European crossings with the “Brunotes” on the Holland American Line, in a Greek Dance Band in the Catskills, and in the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas.
Continues studies and friendship with Carter in Berlin (1964 Ford Foundation Grant), meets Stravinsky, Xenakis, Berio, Yuji Takahashi, Andriessen, Remo Remotti, and above all Rzewski. Goes to Darmstadt, hangs with Babbitt and Earl Brown, hears Stockhausen and Ligeti. Goes to Rome with Joel Chadabe and plays piano in bars on via Veneto, meets Franco Evangelisti and Cornelius Cardew.
In the MUSICA ELETTRONICA VIVA years (1966 -1971 in Rome), performs in over 200 concerts in Europe and the USA with Teitelbaum and Rzewski, Carol Plantamura, Ivan Vandor, Alan Bryant and Jon Phetteplace; and makes significant artistic encounters with Giuseppe Chiari, Edith Schloss, AMM, Cornelius Cardew, Steve Lacy, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Steve ben Israel, Anthony Braxton, Simone Forti, Steve Reich, Joan La Barbara, Michael Nyman, La Monte Young, Trisha Brown, Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Gordon Mumma, Alvin Lucier, Larry Austin, Bill Smith, Paul Ketoff, Robert Moog, Nuova Consonanza, MEV2, Meme Perlini, Mario Ricci, Maria Monti, Prima Materia, Ron Bunzl, Phil Glass, Charlemagne Palestine, Terry Riley, George Lewis, Evan Parker, Gregory Reeves, Serge Tcherepnin, Kosugi, Pulsa, Maryanne Amacher, John Cage, David Tudor, Morton Feldman. Scelsi becomes his friend and mentor.
PRIZES AND AWARDS
Bearns Prize, BMI award 1963, National Endowment for the Arts (twice), DAAD (Berlin residencies 1963-4 and 1986-7), Logos Award 1975, WDR Ars Acustica International 1988 (“For Julian”), Prix Italia 1985 (Gian Franco Zaffrani Prize, for “1985 – A Piece for Peace”), the city of Pisa Premio Novecento, Fromm Foundation (Harvard University), Hass Family Award (San Francisco), Meet the Composer (assistance to many concerts), Leonardo Award for Excellence 1995, interviewed by the Yale Oral History American Music project (category: “Major Figures in American Music”), Guggenheim Foundation 2004, Ars Electronica 2004, Phonurgia Nova 2005 (“I Dreamt John Cage Yodeling in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof”), Experimental Music Studio (Freiburg residencies 2006, 2007), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Gutenberg Fellowship (Mainz 2010-11), Elson lectureship (Harvard 2012), member of New Music USA Artists Council 2011; juror for Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, Sonic Arts award (Premio Internazionale Arti Sonore), Italy’s national Art Prize in electronic music, Sounds of Silences; consultant for American Academy in Rome 2016-
PRINCIPAL MUSIC COLLABORATIONS
With F. Rzewski, R. Teitelbaum, S. Lacy, G. List, G. Lewis, Ferrara, May 2002. Photo C. Casanova
Abel-Steinberg Winant Trio
Alter Ego
Oren Ambarchi
Arditti Quartet
Ars Ludi
Ars Nova (Huw Rhys James)
Bang on a Can Allstars
Nicola Bernardini
Bomarzo Town Band
Bruce Brubaker
John Cage
Cassatt Quartet
Mike Cooper
Philip Corner
Jed Distler
Chris Dobrian
The EAR Unit
Eve Egoyan
Ensemble Modern
Cenk Ergün
Angelo Farro
Luc Ferrari
Festival International de Musique Actuelle
Frankie Hi NRG
Fred Frith
Scot Gresham-Lancaster
Group 180 (Budapest)
Grup Instrumental de València
Shelley Hirsch
The Hub
Huddersfield Choral Society
IATO Orchestra
Joan Jeanrenaud
Kronos Quartet
Joan Jonas
Joan La Barbara
Steve Lacy
Joëlle Léandre
George Lewis
Garrett List
Ciro Longobardi
Anton Lukoszevieze
Maarten Altena Ensemble
Yvar Mikhashoff
Ali Momemi
Pauline Oliveros
Ursula Oppens
Orchestra Elettroacustica Officina Arti Soniche
Evan Parker
Paul Dresher Ensemble
Melvyn Poore
Relache Ensemble
Jon Rose
Rova Saxophone Quartet
Frederic Rzewski
Antonello Salis
San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Scanner
Domenico Sciajno
John Sebastian, Sr.
Gabriella Smart
Soldier Quartet
Peter Stelzl
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (Denis Russel-Davies)
Süddeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra (Alex Winterson)
Kathleen Supove
SWR Vokalensemble
Aki Takahashi
Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra
Richard Teitelbaum
Testaccio People’s Music School Band
Stefan Tiedje
Frances Uitti
Valensamble (Valentin Garvie)
Daan Vandewalle
Reinier Van Houdt
Ilan Volkov
William Winant
Stefano Zorzanello
MEMORABLE VENUES AND PRODUCERS
Alte Oper Frankfurt
Ijsbreker Café
Centre Pompidou
Il Laghetto di Villa Borghese
The Kitchen
ABC Listening Room (Andrew McLennan )
Accademia Filarmonica Romana
American Academy, Rome
Americans Festival Groningen
Charles Amirkhanian (KPFA, Other Minds)
ANEM ANEM (Llorenç Barber )
Angelica Festival
The Armory
Ars Electronica Festival (Gottfried Hattinger)
ATOPOS (Fulvio Di Rosa)
Auditorium Parco della Musica
Balance-Unbalance 2015
BBC Proms
Peter Behrendsen (Deutzer Brücke…)
David Bernstein
Big Ears Festival
Café Oto
Simone Carella
Casa del Jazz
Teatro Colon
Contemporary Locus
Deutschland Radio (G. Naleppa, M. Gammel)
Blurred Edges (Nikolaus Geresciewski)
CalArts (David Rosenboom)
Centre Beaubourg
Contemp. Jewish Museum SF (Connie Wolf)
Darmstadt Ferienkurse
de Ijsbreker (Jan Wolff)
Documenta 14
Donaueschingen Festival (Armin Köhler, Bjorn Gottstein)
EMF (Joel Chadabe)
Festival delle Nazioni
Frankfurt Hochschule für Musik
Galerie Giannozzo (Rolf Langebartels)
Maxime Guitton
Harvard Music Dept. (Anne Shreffler)
Hessischer Rundfunk (E. Stiebler, B. Leukert)
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival(Graham McKenzie)
inner room (Federico Fusi)
The Integra Project (Lamberto Coccioli)
Peter Kiefer (U. Mainz, Bundesgartenschau)
The Kitchen
Klangturm St. Poelten (Mia Zabelka)
The Knitting Factory
Kunstradio ORF (Elisabeth Zimmermann)
Daniele Lombardi
Make Music New York (Aaron Friedman)
Météo Festival
MONA FOMA
Museum of Modern Art
National Public Radio
New Music America
New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc.
No Man’s Land Foundation
Ostrava Days
Other Minds
Eddie Prevost (AMM, Matchless Rec.)
RAI Radio 3 Audio Box (Pinotto Fava)
RAI Radio 3 Battiti (Pino Saulo)
REDCAT
République Géniale
Romaeuropa Festival
Roulette (Jim Staley)
Royal Conservatory of Music, The Hague (Martijn Padding)
St. Paul’s Within the Walls
Nicola Sani
David Sansone
Schloss Moyland
Schweizer Radio DRS (Thomas Adank)
Schwetzingen FestivalScuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio
Serralves em Festa
Soundstream
Spazio Aereo
Spazio Zero
Sudwest Rundfunk (Burkhard Schlichting)
Taktlos Festival (Peter Kraut)
Teatro Beat 72 (Simone Carella)
Teatro Valle Occupato
Tectonics Festival
Tonspur
Tura New Music (Tos Mahoney)
Valentina Valentini
Venice Biennale
Theatre de Ville
Westdeutsche Rundfunk (W. Becker, K. Schoening)
The Western Front (DB Boyko)
Whitney Museum
VPRO (Hans Reiziger)
Zerynthia (Mario Pieroni, Dora Stiefelmeier)
John Zorn
ZKM Karlsruhe
THEATER, DANCE, FILM, VIDEO, VISUAL ARTS
Margaret Jenkins Dance Company
Trisha Brown
The Achim Freyer Ensemble
“In Hora Mortis”
The School of Hard Knocks
The Living Theatre
Vita Accardi
Achim Freyer Ensemble
Bruno Agostinelli
Michelangelo Antonioni (Zabriskie Point)
Eric Baudelaire
Umberto Bignardi
Vivien Bittencourt & Vincent Katz
Achille Bonito Oliva
Franco Brocani
Paolo Buggiani
Ron Bunzl (Cloud Chamber)
Jacob Burckhardt
Rudy Burckhardt
Yoshiko Chuma (School of Hard Knocks)
Clark Coolidge
Enzo Cosimi
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Molly Davies and Sage Cowles
Willem de Ridder
Ellen Webb Dance Co.
Theo Eshetu
Molissa Fenley
Simone Forti
Pietro Fortuna
Wanda Golonka
Lino Greco & Gerardo Lamattina
Melissa Gould
Alberto Grifi
Georg Hajdu
Pierre-Alain Hubert
Joan Jonas
Kristin Jones
Paul Klerr
The Living Theatre
Lucia Latour
Joan Logue
Margaret Jenkins Dance Co.
Roberto Masotti
Mass MOCA
Annabella Miscuglio
Nancy Karp Dancers
Jack Ox
Michael Palmer
Meme Perlini
Alfredo Pirri
Marcia Plevin
Stephen Ratcliffe
Mario Ricci
Edith Schloss
Ira Schneider
Ulli Sigg
Trisha Brown Dance Co.
Claudia Von Alemann
June Watanabe