Official travel agent for the Festival, who knows the ins and outs of getting to Vermont:
Mark Abrahamson
Northfield Travel
Depot Square
Northfield, Vermont 05663
1-802-485-5444
1-800-451-5444 (US only)
MarkA89153@aol.com

Mark is really good and will do the best for you, and find you a consolidator. Try to tell him what you need, and he will get back to you with the info, rather than keeping him on the phone. (Email is best)

The air destination is Burlington, Vermont, but you can also come in to Montreal/Dorval or Manchester, New Hampshire ... both three-hour rides if you like the scenery.

The rail destination is Montpelier Junction, Vermont. There is only one train each day.

Dennis

Organization help!

Of the 120 guest composers and performers, only 38 have returned the participant form. We're in the really critical planning phase now, and we need the in-kind amounts for self-sponsors, those who have institutional and corporate sponsorship, and especially those who can afford to sponsor others.

If you haven't gotten that form back to me, please do ... even if you have to guess amounts and details.

I'll be posting photos and dimensions of the sites next week, and announce them here.

Busy times!
Dennis

8 radios will do it for the Cage!

Thanks:

Jim Bohn
http://www.mp3.com/jbohn

Hello all,

For, to JB: Yes, I can bring radios. In fact, if you tell me how many, I can probably get several from the repair shop I work in once a week.

To all: Important stuff. I will be sending out a form asking for your info, needs, etc. This asks about your expenses, and also about what (if you are able to) you can provide financially.

We have a $56,000 budget for this show, and $4,000 in the bank. That's a long way to go. Half of the amount can be in-kind, but that still leaves nearly $30,000 to provide expenses, transportation, and honoraria.

We're also sending out a package of Chamber of Commerce stuff, together with our fundraising booklet. This big thing includes bios and pix of almost everyone, tear-out support forms, corporate letters, etc.

We will be posting a printable PDF of it on line if you need extras, with info on how to use it.

Please, please set aside a little time to ask local companies for sponsorship for yourself *or another composer* for this event.

As I said, we'll be putting up full information shortly, together with an email to everyone who is participating with a copy of the form in text, MSWord, and PDF format.

A quick note: I will be gone May 5-10 for a project (actually something very cool ... Discovery Channel is doing a special on my bloody ancestor Elizabeth (my site is at http://bathory.org/), and they're sending me to Slovakia to give a castle tour), so if you have questions that can't wait, get to David "Damian" Gunn at wheezle@maltedmedia.com

Okay, all for now. See http://kalvos.org/ought1.html for the list of participants as of last week. A few are solid now that don't appear, and I'll update it when I return.

Dennis

Hello:

If 8 composers were to bring radios to the festival, I would be willing to put together a performance of John Cage's "Radio Music". I conducted it last fall. It would take one short rehearsal to throw together.

My Best:

James Bohn
http://www.mp3.com/jbohn

Hi all,

Here is a preliminary list that's about to go out with fundraising. If you have something specific that isn't listed here, please let me know:

Some Kalvos & Damian Ought-One Festival Highlights
August 25-26, 2001, WGDR at Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont

· Phonophonie, a rare staging of Mauricio Kagel’s chamber opera as re-created by Beth Griffith
· American Piano Music, performed by Drew Krause, with music by Paul Reller, Stuart Smith, and others
· Contemporary Czech Piano Music, a concert by the acclaimed Prague pianist Patricia Goodson
· Contemporary Russian Theremin Music, a concert organized and curated by Moscow’s André Smirnov
· Latin-American Electroacoustic/Computer Music, curated by Argentina’s Martín Alejandro Fumarola
· Orchestral Music from Vermont, performed by Troy Peters and the Vermont Youth Orchestra
· Music for Piano and Electronics by Ensemble WireWorks’ Georg Hajdu and Jennifer Hymer
· A Dream Room of electroacoustic compositions curated by Larry Austin, Richard Tolenaar, Michael Manion, Elaine Tomazi Freitas, and others

· Martin’s Idea and other vocal, chamber, and text works by Gary Barwin and the ensemble Uh-Oh
· fLOW, an installation of the interactive computer/web composition by Karlheinz Essl
· Last words before vanishing, a unique in-the-woods event called created by Phil Kline
· Nouveau Banjo Quintet—yes, it’s what you think and more!—performed by Brad Smith
· Turnstile and Enkidu, violin and processing music by Doug Geers, performed by Maja Cerar
· March Swale, a lush and exciting string quartet by Beth Anderson
· Prayer & Meditation and 3 on the Green, violin and electronics created and performed by Mary Lou Newmark
· Quicksilver, a new solo piano composition by Erik Nielsen to be premiered by Michael Arnowitt
· Computer/Noise Improvisations, created by Robert Duckworth and Roddy Schrock
· Music for Long Tubes and Electronics, composed and performed by Brenda Hutchinson
· Boll Weevil, other works, and a trio improvisation by Joseph Benzola
· Global Plantation, a video/electroacoustic multichannel work by Randy Neal
· Eight Mallets Four Brian by Joseph Celli, performed live by Brian Johnson with three video projections
· Off-Hour Wait State, a full installation of Tom Hamilton’s composition, complete with subway ambiance
· A Cappella by John McGuire, a mysterious work for voice and tape performed by Beth Griffith
· Fugue and For Graham Fitkin, two piano creations composed and performed by Greg Hall
· Acoustic Aquarium for toy piano and percussion and 2 Portraits for 8-handed bass drum, all by Steve Gryc
· Dune and Zanzibar, Johnny Reinhard’s microtonal solo bassoon work, and Eye of Newt for recorder
· Apparent Horizon, the acclaimed video/electroacoustic composition by Maggi Payne
· Earbells, Gregg Wager’s masterful work for percussion
· UVAS, a jazzlike piece for 10 players by Dietmar Hippler
· Sax and tape in a new composition composed and premiered by Jean Piché
· Soundwalk, the sound installation created by Sarah Peebles
· Percussion-toy piano duets with Joseph Benzola and James Bohn
· Imitations, Fantasie-Impromptu, and Five Midrashim for four strings by Robert D. Polansky
· Looping Music, a Sunday morning radio show created by Dennis Darrah
· Kalvos’s Car Horn Symphony No. 3, the third in the series that began in 1978
· Damian’s First Synchronized Chainsaw Drill Team With Musical Accompaniment, but with safety first!

Brad,

That's great ... and it would be welcome. But I also understand that sponsorship isn't easy to come by, especially in these tighter times.

Composers who can get sponsorship for themselves and others should certainly let us know so we can put it in the 'in-kind' portion of the budget.

Likewise, any sponsorship that includes a portion for the festival creation is also important.

We haven't finished the info letters yet, but in summary they offer announcements, banners, notices, etc., in exchange for sponsorship of $500 per artist. Half goes to the artist, half goes to the festival creation (publicity, programs, rentals, consumables, unsponsored artists, etc.). Any balance over $3,000 after the festival is over increases the honoraria for the participating artists.

We're still working out the details, and suggestions are as usual welcome. We hope to have the letter ready to go by next week.

Dennis

Dennis,

Wouldn't it be grand if we took some of the load off you and got our own sponsors? My company has geneously offered to sponsor me (no fondling, please!). So there's one less for you to worry about.


Brad

Hello all,

It's certainly been quiet here.

There's news. In terms of fundraising, we're putting together sponsorship packets. Rather than ask companies to fund the festival (generic and uninteresting), we're going to approach them to fund the artists. That way (if the approach works ... hmmm), then the companies get sponsorship ads on our web pages, programs, brochures, and before the performance, and we get money for expenses and honoraria.

We need to raise roughly $50,000 if it's to work this way. Wish us luck.

Why so much? Because the number of guests, which has finally leveled out, will be about 100.

If you haven't looked lately, there are some recent guests announced on the festival page at http://kalvos.org/ought1.html

If you have ideas on how to secure business funding, please send them along, or better yet, pursue some of them for us. We are asking $500 per sponsorship, and can provide a packet of information (should be ready in the next week, by about April 20).

Major music corporations and agencies are all welcome to contribute. We'll be starting locally, of course, but (for example) many artists are from New York City. A dozen companies there could really alleviate some of the strain by pledging to sponsor a few composers each.

Let me know. Frankly, the two of us are majorly time-stressed, so anyone wanting to share this fundraising work will be praised, petted, and fondled, your choice.

Thanks & back to work,
Dennis

Hi again,

Power was down here for a few days, cable systems down, and our show was canceled for the first time ever due to a power outage!

I have lots of email from everyone and will respond in the next few days.

If we still have power.

Dennis

Hi all,

Just checking in from Amsterdam. All quiet? Hmmm....!

Back on March 31 -- I will collect email & find out what's been going on!

Dennis

Hi all,

Beginning Wednesday (March 21), I will be away (Amsterdam et al., lucky me!). I'll be back to these discussions on March 31.

In the meantime, I won't be answering email, although it will be gathering on my mail server!

I'll be checking in here and via email until noon on March 21.

Dennis

Hi Brad,

We're working on the coordination. The plan here is to connect performers with the pieces. By May 1 we should have a list of everybody, then we'll start completing the list of everything. Them we put 'em together.

The Festival Orchestra (participating composer/performers) is more a Festival Band at the moment -- there are only a few string players -- and mostly winds and percussion. This could be interesting!

We will, however, have the Vermont Youth Orchestra, which will offer a few hours of readings in the afternoon and a performance in the evening. They are very good, but can only work up a few short and simple pieces in that time. However, they will rehearse one or two pieces ahead during their summer camp the previous two weeks. We're talking about what they will be willing/able to play right now, some of which depends on getting a final answer on the Saturday availability of the concert hall (we have it confirmed for Sunday).

Confirmation of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra has not yet been received. They're way late in their decision.

We have violins and cello for a string quartet; still working on finding a viola.

There are fine pianists, some of whom are preparing programs already (Patricia Goodson, Nurit Tilles, Michael Arnowitt, Jennifer Hymer, Drew Krause).

Send along the material (or give me a URL if you have PDFs of the scores). Coordination to follow!

Steve Gryc sent along some terrific material the other day, including his "Two Portraits for Bass Drum (8 hands)". Very cool.

On to the show; we're having a live collaboration today, if everything works, with Robert Duckworth (Atlanta) and Roddy Shrock (Tokyo).

Dennis

With 75 composers, an unknown number of musicians, five "simultaneous concert streams", and over 40 hours of staged music, much of which is unknowable at this time, you've undertaken a heruclean coordination task!

For those pieces requiring warm bodies in addition to the composer, time could be pretty short on your enchanted weekend for a cold reading to produce meaningful results. Could this board be used for composers and musicians to connect and prepare for the event? I would expect to send the score, parts and recording of a proposed piece to the musicians well in advance.

My modest wish list would include a string quartet, for a 12-min. piece, and a pianist for a couple of 4-min. pieces.

Also, what are your plans for the Festival Orchestra?

Brad

This is a great idea.

Around the first of May, I'll be sending out confirmation packets with housing and food stuff, sites to see, etc. The usual Chamber of Commerce stuff with an arts & food emphasis. When we have some idea of how many will be arriving Friday, we can look for a place large enough!

What other questions should be ask in this packet?

Dennis

Hi,

Congratulations on such an overwhelming response to your festival idea! The two days look to be pretty intense; informal gatherings at local establishments over the weekend should also prove rewarding.

For the benefit of those who have neither been to Vermont, nor personally know any of the fellow participants, would it be possible to highlight a few local coffee shops, cafes, restaurants or pubs where we might commune? Mightn't Friday evening, the 24th, be a good time to meet and greet? Couldn't there be an identifying placard on tables welcoming fellow constituents?

Brad

Hello

I am questionless and commentless at the moment, but just letting you know that I am not lurkless. This is like one of those MIDI status signals emitting a dim flashing (yup, that's me) just to let you know that the MIDI instrument is connected.

The festival as you describe it above sounds very exciting -- the kind of polyvalent interaction, multi-genre & style anticreativelogjamboree with artists from various walks, stumbles, and sprints of life and at various stages of their careers will be an inspiring fascinating happy panic. Too often we get stuck in our own narrow little worlds. Sometimes excitement, interest, and well-administered anarchy is the best curation story.

Gary

Anybody able to bring an ADAT for this festival?

Dennis

Hi all,

Not much action on this board lately, so here's a answer I recently sent to a composer considering partipation. Those of you reading might be able to generate some interest from possible audience, reviewers, and funders

Dennis

It's a diverse gathering, an experiment that befits, we think, the sort of a Renaissance we're in after the great & bewildering Ars Nova of the 20th century.

We have always tried on K&D to reflect the wide variety of music being composed today, and want to give it a live presence -- live audience, on the air, on line, recorded, etc. We have had about 150 guests from every genre of music outside the pop forms (and even a few inside), and it's worked because we're composers talking to composers, and having a lot of fun doing it.

There's a component of frustration doing the radio show -- we learn of so much material (I think we're in a kind of Golden Age now), but many of the composer gatherings are genre-specific. We've tried to find composers across the field (avant-garde, political, minimal, eclectic, film, composer/performer, installation, ea/cm) as well as across the age spectrum (19 through 85 so far) and the spectrum of fame (total unknowns through well-known composers like you).

So the festival's purpose is to bring together composers from not only every musical "camp" but also from different manners of performance: on-paper (on-screen, these days) composers, composer/performers, EA/CM composers, etc., into one venue for one time (for now) in an attempt to see if (of course) it works, if diverse composers meeting will produce new ideas, and how composers interact with ensembles of their own and with groups of varying intensity (Ensemble VCX, the "Festival Band" of composers, the excellent Vermont Youth Orchestra of some 80 players, the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, etc.).

In other words, not only would we love to have you at the festival, we'd love to have you perform, or work up one of your pieces with one of our pianists.

If it's unclear what we're producing, let me give you some background. We proposed this festival to our board of advisors early last year. They were relatively quiet about it, but one of them (Phil Kline) finally said we should go ahead with it, and let the composers themselves, by their participation, determine the shape of the festival. It sounded like a great idea, so we got the board together online, and then issued the invitation via email (we use postal mail only for physical objects like CDs -- we try to stay virtual).

The result has been 75 acceptances. We are stunned and having a bit of a psychological coping problem, but we'll get over it. We've managed large events like this before. So the actual shape of the festival, per Phil's suggestion, is still being worked out. We have settled on five simultaneous concert streams:
1. Performance studio. Seats about 40, with recording and playback equipment. Our piano & chamber concerts, live/ea, etc., will be here.
2. Atrium. This is a high-ceilinged open space. Subtle music with homemade instruments, toy pianos, etc., will be here.
3. Ampitheatre. There are two stages, one at the bottom and one at the top. Performances will alternate and have the "loud stuff".
4. Dream room. This is the EA/CM room, carefully tuned by several EA artists and with composers such as Larry Austin installing their own works.
5. Meeting rooms. There are several. Some will have installations, the largest will be for presentations and lectures.
There are installations outside in the woods and along the paths.
And finally, there is The Haybarn Theatre/Concert Hall, seating several hundred. This is for two large evening concerts.

We are presently negotiating with two radio stations in addition to our own to cover portions of the live concerts. We will broadcast portions live as well. We have to make agreements with the other station programmers to use their time; so far we have 5 live hours on air, and will probably have more (because this is outside the college semester). The entire Festival will be documented and broadcast over the next few months. Everything that we broadcast is also cybercast, and everything that is broadcast over one of the other stations we hope to work with is also cybercast.

Bohn James Bohn,

I'm not sure. It depends on the cost because we would have to rent one; none is available at Goddard.

Maggi Payne's "Apparent Horizon" will also be presented, and that's video as well.

What is the smallest acceptable screen if we can only get a monitor?

Dennis

With the "Meeting Room" (for ElectroAcoustic performances), would it be possible to have a video projector of some nature?

My Best:

Jim Bohn