Hi all,

I am about to close this thread to posts, and open a new one.

Dennis

Jeff,

That's me. You wanted to be on campus, said your info sheet. That's all set.

Dennis

hey guys... just finally got my ass in gear to post here... me and elsie are looking forward to listening and hanging out with you guys immensely!

elsie had some questions about the living arrangements... who should i write?

jeff harrington

Hi all

just for everyone to know:
I am having the week off next week, and will have more time for doing stuff for the Composers Interactive Ensemble.

What is it with (a) fiddlers and (b) late August and (c) Vermont? (a) + (b) just won't = (c.) I've sought string players from as far away as Boston and NYC, and STILL have nary a strummer to show for the show. A fellow from Flux Quart was keen to do it (he regularly plays summer gigs in nearby Craftsbury Vt.) but he already committed to performances in Maryland. Nearly every stringster in the VermSymOrch seems to be unavailable. As DBK has already noted, the local community fiddlers are amateurs, and not suited to finger-gnashing nuevo musique technique. So, I'm, like, puttin' out the word for any sort of, you know, assistance, like.

No anonymous posts, please.

Dennis

I'm one of the folks waiting for a string player--or two... but I have a tiny piece that could be put on as a workaround. It's a little madrigal (soundes lyke Weelkes!) on Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet, can be done SATB with just 4 of us (on key!), or there's a version for more singers that juxtaposes SSAA with TTBB on "Sometimes to hot the eye of heaven shines/ And often is his gold complexion dimm'd". With enough volunteers (who can sing English on key!), we could whip this thing into shape as a token touch-o-Matt to make up for the fact that Vermont string players are too fearful to try something new. {8>{D>>>

It's not exactly typical Mattmusik, but it's something, and something's better than a bush in the bird, or...yeah, you know.

I'm arriving Wed night, could bring copies and we could wing it--er, I mean, rehearse it a couple times before the onslaught.... in theory....

Anybody into it?

The Governor of Vermont proclaimed August to be New Music Month! He used the exact wording we submitted.

I'll be posting the scan of the proclamation to the website tonight.

Dennis

STudio Z, 3:45 it is then.
60 minutes. Wonderful !

So, we take it from here.
I collect the names, and post the list to everybody listed...if that makes sense.
We have two months to make this happen. I am not worried.

R.

Richard and all,

Okay, I'm gonna move the string quartet and put the Composers Interactive Ensemble (heh) in Studio Z.

That'll be Sunday at 3:45

I'm going to have a few general announcements on Monday or Tuesday.

Dennis

Hi Richard and all,

I will check about the availability of the Haybarn Sunday day, or see what can be arranged with Studio Z. The Haybarn is open all day, but as I said, will need additional security, ticket takers, etc. That's my only reluctance ... we have a management nightmare anyway!

Tell me about time -- how long? The slot left in Studio Z at 3:45 pm on Sunday is 45 minutes, but that isn't enough time, is it? I could move the string quartet to the Atrium, which would make acoustic sense. That would give you an hour on Sunday in Studio Z.

We still have a few composers unaccounted for (especially a gamelan) and a few other changes that might happen, but it can fit there.

What do you think? Should I explore the Haybarn, and you provide an additional person to take care of managing the space, or would you prefer Studio Z?

(Barring cancellations, everything else is now full.)

Have a look at the schedule of events as well as the pictures of the spaces; follow the events and stages links from the Ought-One homepage http://ought-one.com

Dennis

okay, to everybody who showed interest in the imrov event...which are a lot of people (of which some I will reply in a personal email, because they asked me specific things):
I think this will be a great time, had by all. It is clear that we can do this, and have a blast. However, I first need to tell Dennis (D..E..N..N..I..S..S..S..S.....?!...I know you read this) that you can just plan it to your own wishes. We could use a piano, but if not, plenty of people have offered alternatives, and plenty play different instruments. It will be quite diverse.
So, let's plan this, Dennis. I am very optimistic. We could use some kind of P.A. though. But just plan it, and it will be dealt with somehow. As for the rehearsal, don't think it needs to be the same space. SO whenever you think this is good to do considering ALL that is going on in your planning already. WHoever can't make it to that rehearsal is still welcome to play, and I do of course expect people to have capability of judging their own level of playing and such. Hey, I am a believer, okay?
So again, I will write some people personal email. But if you feel left out, just drop me a note. I do make mistakes. (Ask my friends)
THis event will happen, as far as I see it. When Dennis confirm all that, I will make a list of people who will be there, and people who may be there. And we take it from there.

Richard

Just read TIchard T.'s note about signing up for
improvisation session, wrote him back and urge
others to connect with him soon so we can get this
gooing. I think it is important to round up a
variety of instrumental improv people, so we can
get some solo and duo sets with charinet, sax,
cello, piano as well as band tympany. Electronic
of course, and the key might be a demonstration
that the improvising spirit transscends the
instrumentation, and has a broader range that many
people think. Pseudo-scores maybe, or work from
scratch, the real test.

Hi All,
No news ... Just a quick test of this site's accessibility via a Palm V & the AvantGo browser. It works, but isn't much fun for a touch typist ... After 35 years of typing, my fingers, not my eyes, knoe where the lettets are.

To everybody who has shown to be interested AND is reading this board, which I am sure is not everybody, but anyway:

the Improv., as it has been called lately, is for sure something realistic. Because lots of people want, or would love to, participate. Now, I am not arrogant enought to say that my plan is the best one; but let my plan be the first for now.
What we should do:

1. email me digital copies of scores/sketches of contemproray improvisation plans (no jazz!). SO I can see what is there already for us, and what is not.
2. keep reading this board
3. Let me know if you need a piano, or can manage with an electronic equivalent. (This very is important for Dennis)
4. keep reading this board
5. you have until wednesday, June 20, to react to this. Either by emailing me (richard@tolenaar.com), or by writing on this board.
6. If you don't read this: you will get email too (well, *that* was silly to write here)

And thanks for all the reactions.

checking for the short line situation, I am not
going to use a CR and see if it will print wide,
Dennis. Am sure I never used CD before
but....check it out

Hi all,

To help planning, please note that a campus map is now posted at http://ought-one.com/

Dennis

I've been discussing with RIchard T. following
his suggestion for Improvisation on this list. I
thought to reach you all first and see if this
makes sense to you --- if so we can take it up for
more t discus/sion and see who else has inputs.
Main thing now would be to get an idea of who is
interested to perform, and lay out some general
plan to take to Dennis. Slot time is going fast,
obviously. Excuse me for this long note, but space
is less important than getting this project
started.....

General Idea: If we could get an hour slot, would
this make sense?

1)Mainly for the non-composer audience: A five
minute quasi-panel talk by "us" about Improv and
what it means, how it works, etc. as against
preplanned composition.

2) Then s series of pieces done from scratch or a
core-idea, 5-10 minutes long each so we can get in
a lot of different kinds of sound and styles. For
the non-composer audience this might eb the only
opportunity they would ever have to hear free
improv done before their eyes. Not set pieces as
if improvised, but the real stuff...

a) a piece done on single line, single
instrument, like cello or clarinet, or anything
non chordal, guitar would be fine of course. Just
to show how a line of soudns can evolve.
b) Two such instruments working in with
each other, with and against each other's lines,
alternate sections of responsive sound.
c) Pure percussion, multi-timbre and
rhythmic variabities, but feasible with the tymp
set alone.
d) A group, no problem about that, you all
know that....
e) Piano ......start froma single
note-=line. Break, add second line, break add
divergent motions, etc.....run up to poly-tonal
lines etc. End very compolex and "orchestral", the
piano's forte. My stuff.End very compolex and
"orchestral", the piano's forte. My stuff.
f) anthing else we can think up, this is
just the beginning.

For my thinking, there are two purposes for this:

For the composers who don't improvise on an
instrument, this says something about realtime
music composition, for which there need be no
apology at this time. Pure jazz people have done
this for a century, art-composers are ready to
catch up a little, and they have excellent tools
and ideas for a new break. There is always the
danger of composers playing for composers only,
since there will be another audience, give them
something new to remember.

For the audience of non-composers who come to the
Festival to hear what New Music is like, this is a
chance to show them something being done RealTime,
on stage, from scratch right before their
noses.----- Making Music, like Matthieu in l955
doing a painting realtime on stage. Not only
impressive, but Improvisation is close to
intellectual core of compos

Trees. Lotsa trees.

Did I mention trees?

Dennis:

You mean there are no Penthouse suites, equipped limousines, hookers, pure cocaine, and cases of Jack Daniels??? How the hell can I come to this festival.... (-:

JB

Hi all,

Quick note. Some of you are waiting to hear about a few pieces.

We're in the major fundraising push right now, and we're going to be erratic about responding to email.

An unexpected turn in the money area: Some folks who planned to come to the festival have begun asking for fees. We drew up a budget based on the original list of people who needed assistance and those who waived compensation ... but since June 1, the amount requested has doubled, and we're now spending our music organizing time doing additional fundraising instead.

The past two weeks have been rough. We're trying to find sources for the ballooning expense requests, so please have patience. If *any* of you work for companies that can be corporate sponsors (even of your own appearance), please put them in touch.

Thanks,
Dennis

Richard,

Yes, I'm here ... these are fundraising times, so I'm not spending many hours on the musical organization. Our development director drove up from New Jersey yesterday, so we spent a lot of time at the radio station and on the Goddard campus.

As far as the improv, it's only a scheduling issue for us. There aren't too many places left in the schedule where an acoustic piano is accessible. But there is the Haybarn Theatre, Sunday daytime.

The day/evening separation of Haybarn from the rest of the Festival was basically because it's a 10-minute walk from one to the other, and it will require an extra security detail for Sunday.

Studio Z will be open during dinner, as well as after 10:15pm on Saturday, and after 10:00pm on Sunday. Friday evening and both mornings are reserved for sound checks, though.

On the other hand, if there's no need for an acoustic piano (we will have at least one, maybe two, 88-key electronic instruments) and the improv is to be considered a composer-to-composer experience, then that opens a few more options -- particularly since some other buildings are available as practice areas. We could set one of those buildings aside for the improv sessions, with no public; or we could consider using the music building or one of the other campus buildings, which could be open.

Check the schedule at http://ought-one.com/ought1-events.html and you'll see what I mean about it being tight!

Richard, re your second question, it could work -- give me another week to see how the funding situation goes. We have our big corporate presenteations in the next 10 days.

Dennis

In additon, Dennis (are you listening?), I would like to have some thought from you, about the string quartet and the video that I was thinking about (Delusions, Micheal Hanish...). Sahll we do this? SInce the players are not available to play this?

let's make this a good plan, then. I see a lot of goodwill, get a lot of email about it oo.
Bill, you clearly are putting a lot of thought in this. If you feel you want to take the lead with this, I am not at all against it. I am happy to see that there are several minds who think alike.

I will write an email right now, to everybody who responded to me the last few days. But I also would like this message board to be our main medium for the discussion. And then we will let Dennis now, soon, how it can be done. SO that Dennis is not facing some impossible last minute thing here.

Improv music to be any good, has to work from the
inside outwards or it becomes merely mimetic, or
performnce on a style. Short circuiting the mind
to the sound, there is a chance for something
invisible to emerge, so we wake up in the middle
of the night improvising in the mind as well as
whistling while we walk in the street, or pounding
the drum or piano. Cutting out all the interstages
of music-history and mastery of notation and
cleaning up the score while we search for
performeers and a venue --- we improvise on the
spot from scratch, and it does the mind a world of
good. And even for those who can't do this, it is
important for them to see oncee in a while how it
is done, and that it can be

I agree wil Bill here. I think that we all have a big set of ears and skills. The workshop is a good idea as is just choosing a group of individuals and sounds to play with, setup your instruments,then begin to play! Though the vocabularies and syntax might differ, the way that they are used and how one reacts to them is the essnece of improv music. What makes improvisational music exciting to me is the meeting of unlike minds and how they listen and coexist with each other. Bring on the band!!!

JB

I am thinking about a Workshop of some informal
sort, to play otu the range of RealTime Comp. for
people who ahve never thought of Improf. escept as
a part off the Jazz world. If there were a slot
for something like this, several of us could think
ahead and fill in some time compactly. Improv
doesn;t like to organize, but if diffuse the two
day timespan is gone

I am listening, Gary. It would be great !
I will email everybody about all this, and how I envision the event to be, this weekend. Any input is welcome. I am just one guy.

Richard

JB,

1. No hurry, since they're not in a special format.

2. Yes, yes.

3. You have my vote.

4. It will be taped and most of it videotaped. We are in a delicate sponsorship discussion at the moment. You own what you do, but we may have to limit who does the actual taping, in exchange for their sponsorship. More on this later.

5. Yes.

Dennis

Hey Dennis...a few questions:

* For the two pieces that will be in the dream room, when would you like them by?? Do you want some type of written background on these pieces?

* As far as food and rooms, I assume that as long as we pay for 3 we will have room for 3? Food as well?

* I work for Fujitsu, one of the worlds largest and cheapest organizations! I am trying to find out about how they go about doing sponsorships but I am sure that I would have more luck becoming the next pope!!

* Can we tape/video our portion of the show for a possible release ( You now on that great cutting edge label, Amanita)??? :-)

* There is no question 5

JB

Gary,

Richard is probably listening ... sounds like that will be a kick.

As for the piano piece, give me a name and length. A few composers are *still* holding back with info I need, as are a few performers, so we can't get the schedule solid yet.

And, we can add your other pieces. Let me play with the schedule a little bit more...

Dennis

Hello from the Hammer. (that's Hamilton Ontario for those outside the absolute centre of the universe...)

I like the non-pop idea of the poster, nice concept.

Coupla things:

I'm bringing John Kameel Farah down to play keyboards for my piece. He is, in addition to an excellent kbdist, an improviser. So I hope he can be added to Richard's list of possible improvisers along with me. Also, if it isn't too late, he'd be interested in playing a solo piano piece of his. All he'd need is a piano.

Also, Dennis, you've listed one piece of mine. I'd love to do another, if it were possible.I could do a piece for spoken word and keyboard with John ("Gluegun" -- about 10 minutes). And/or a solo soprano sax piece ("Fantaphasia", about 6 minutes). Is it too late?

Again, thanks for doing this.

Gary

Just received this question:

"Will they accommodate vegetarians and other dietarily-challenged individuals?"

The answer: Absolutely. Already arranged for -etarians and -egans. There will be 3 meal choices.

Dennis

To reiterate items #3-5 that I just sent out in a mailing, which are critical to us now:

3. DEVELOPMENT: Earlier I mentioned our development director and fundraisers. Please *do not* contact them with any requests, only leads:
== If you have a good lead on a major corporate sponsor for the O1 Festival, send info to D'Anne, danneh@ellsworthkaye.com
== If you have a good lead on a general fundraising contact or non-corporate sponsorship, send info to Canary, seabird@capecod.net

4. SPONSORS: Speaking of corporate sponsors, *please* give a hand with this event's fundraising. Many of you have 'day jobs' at large companies. We'll do the fundraising if you'll give us the contacts. Unfortunately, to date we've received no information on companies sponsoring employees for O1. We provide a very good package of benefits, and since we are still considerably short of our goal, we would appreciate a helping hand on these corporate sponsors.

5. TRAVEL: The Amtrak idea for those coming from/through New York didn't work out. Thery offer only a 5% discount for 70 passengers, they don't guarantee a separate car, and only hand luggage is allowed. But we have other ideas for this.

Thanks,
Dennis

Good news!

We eat!

We have final confirmation that the New England Culinary Institute will be contributing seven meals (Friday dinner, and 3 meals each Saturday and Sunday) for all O1 Festival participants.

Yippee!

Dennis

yes Dennis,

I would love to havr that list, and it will be save with me.
Thanks !

Richard:

Great idea!!! Two out of the three pieces that I am doing are dealing with are pure improv (My main trio piece and a duet with James Bohn). My main musical conception is based on improv principles and I could not agree more with your above statement. I am sure that my other two partners would be up for this as well.

JB

Quick note: We have asked Vermont Governor Howard Dean to declare August "New Music Month". Response from the Governor's office is positive; barring some unexpected event, we should have the Proclamation within two weeks.

Dennis

Richard, if you'd like the full email list of participants, let me know. I won't post them here for obvious anti-spam reasons!

Dennis

Improvisation Event

Again I want to ask attention for the possibility of an event for the musical improvisors/instrumentalists amongst us. (Or, if you want, "real time composers".) If we can find room and initiative for an event that unites some of us who see improvising as a meaningful creative process, it would be wonderful. FOr me, the actual writing down of music, in any notation, is leaving so much unsaid and unclear, that I can't see composing as something that ends on paper. Playing, while composing, is still the best way to express your initial ideas. I would love to have this aspect as the main goal of a great event in the festival. I already have some positive reactions. If anybody wants to cooperate and make this something fun and inspiring, feel free to email me
richard@tolenaar.com

Joseph

Outside will be an electronic keyboard, and there will be CD/PA etc. I knew your physical setup was a little longer, so I put you first on Saturday.

Everybody will be doing sound checks Friday night, Saturday and Sunday mornings, so be prepared to share the stage from 7am-noon.

Also keep in mind that there is 15 minutes between shows, so consider that in your strike time. There is no flexibility in that part of the schedule!

Dennis

Hey Dennis and all others:

All I can say is....WOW!!!!! This is going to be one exciting weekend of music. I think that you have done a great job with the logistics of setting up events and times with individual performers. For me, going on first is terrific because our setup will be a bit on the lengthy side due to the amount of percussion and other sundry items which I will need a Uhaul to bring up! The duet with Mr. James Bohn...well what more can I say....HE HAW!!!! One stupid question...I assume there will be a PA and some type of piano type thing provided outside?? Also part one of the piece uses a DAT/CD...will there be a playback device provided off the PA???

Anyway, this is going to be INCREDIBLE!!! Harrington and Bohn in one place at the same time...what more can I say?(!!)

The Other JB

There's panic in stringtown.

We're getting "music too hard" alerts from some of our string players. The request for developing a string quartet just for the festival starts to get urgent. Ideas appreciated.

Dennis

Okay, all, there's a tentative schedule posted at http://ought-one.com/ought1-events.html

Tentative is best I can do, because I'm still waiting to hear/confirm programming information for Jon Appleton, Olex Beck, Eve Beglarian, Barbara Benary, Joseph Celli, Darius Clynes, Richard DeCosta, Jody Diamond, Michael Edgerton, Matthew H. Fields, Howard Jonathan Fredrics, Kyle Gann, Jin Hi Kim, Yannis Kyriakides, Larry Lake, Keith Moore, Frank J. Oteri, Don Stewart, and Nurit Tilles.

That's it for tonight.

Dennis

Good catch, Bohn James Bohn. I'm updating now, and things should be ready by about midnight ET.

As a matter of fact, I've put together a tentative schedule, which will be available on the events page by late tonight.

Dennis

Good work Dennis:

Nice poster. I looked over the concert information. All my stuff is there all hunky-dorey like. The Cage "Radio Music" is not listed at any of the concerts. Would you still like me to do "Radio Music"? I'd need 8 warm bodies and 8 radios.

My Best:

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

Hi all,

New poster now available. See http://ought-one.com/

Grab a large JPEG or a PDF you can print any size.

Gotta go...

Dennis

News for outdoor stage performers:
http://ought-one.com/ought1-stages1.html

This is the first of the photos for the various locales.

Dennis

Michael Hanish ... cool. Was this an outgrowth of the Midi Project several years ago?

To answer your question, yes, there will be a video projector in the "Dream Room" and several large video monitors for the performance of Joseph Celli's "Eight Mallets Four Brian".

(Keep this idea alive in case I forget; that might happen as we struggle to get that pro string quartet together.)

Dennis

Dennis, is there a video projector at the festival? Michael Hanish made a video, for "Delusions" for string quartet. it is a montage of shots, mostly made in Egypt. As an alternative for a live performance, this video could make it interesting.
As for the improvising event... it can be done any time anywhere. But if it isn;t a part of the festival, we will just let it be.

For those of you staying at Goddard (which is the majority, it seems), don't forget that there is the option to continue playing after the official programs are over, or even have a semi-private get-together on Friday night.

Dennis

sounds great. Email me about it, is you wish. richard@tolenaar.com

Richard,
I'm in.
I did quite a bit of this sort of thing in the late 60's, early '70s, with percussion and electronics. FWIW: I have one or two composer controlled improve pieces already written.

okay..tried to send a message from my palm, but it didn;t work. Such is life, so here goes again.
I will send yo the music, dennis, by email.
ALso I would love to have an 'improvising' event, with other composers/improvisors who want to participate. I would be guitarist, and anybody can do what they feel good at. How would I go for that, to set that up? It would not be a 'back to the sixties' event. In fact I write some scores that could set guidelines for players. What do you think? A bad idea...?

Hi all,

Looking at this, I see our weakest link is gonna be the strings. I know we have a few individual string players coming, and wonder if *any* of you know a few extra players or even a string quartet looking for a day or two in Vermont.

Other things are coming together reasonably well.

Dennis

Richard,

We are organizing two string quartets, but as I recall, yours are pretty hard for a pickup group to do. At least one of the quartets will do the easier pieces, and have time to rehearse, since they are local semi-pro players.

Let's see if we can find a more advanced group -- we have some fine individual players, but I'm not sure how we get them together enough times to do these well.

In the meantime, if you can provide an electronic (or even paper!) copy of the score, that would be good.

In other news: http://ought-one.com/ will now have all the latest info.

Dennis

hi,

I would love to have a string quartet play one of my string quartets, but unfortunately I can't find an ensemble for the specific time of the festival.
Any thoughts?
I am also still available for advice on audio/multimedia applications.