CLARK ART INSTITUTE OFFERS TWO FREE PERCUSSION CONCERTS
For Immediate Release
October 5, 2018
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute, in conjunction with Williams Percussion Ensemble Director Matthew Gold, presents two contemporary percussion concerts at the Clark on Sunday, October 28 at 1 pm and 4:30 pm. The first concert, held outdoors, features Michael Pisaro’s A wave and waves for one hundred percussion instruments, performed by the Talujon Percussion Ensemble, the Williams Percussion Ensemble, and guests. It is a rare, deep listening experience in which listeners are immersed in an ocean of sound.
The second concert, held in the Michael Conforti Pavilion, features music for percussion by Sam Pluta, Caroline Shaw, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and John Cage, performed by the Talujon Percussion Ensemble, the Williams Percussion Ensemble, and guests. Gold, also a member of the Talujon Percussion Ensemble, performs in both concerts.
The concerts are free and open to the public.
ABOUT A WAVE AND WAVES
A wave and waves was composed in 2006/07. It is scored for 100 percussion instruments played by 100 players and contains two parts. The first part, A world is an integer, is in the form of a single wave lasting 35 minutes, made up of delicate and elemental sounds entering and dissolving back into silence. The second part, A haven of serenity and unreachable, consists of 100 smaller waves that combine and overlap, creating powerful swells that eventually crest and subside.
The 100 percussion instruments in the work range from conventional instruments played unconventionally to found sounds and everyday materials. The list includes sandpaper, metal brushes, stones, and grains of rice and seeds falling on the surfaces of different materials (wood, ceramic, glass, plastic, metal, etc.) as well as on marimbas, vibraphones, and snare drums. The sounds are predominantly soft, and the instruments are activated through rubbing, bowing, and gravity rather than through hitting.
ABOUT THE TALUJON PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
The Talujon Percussion Ensemble, described by The New York Times as possessing an “edgy, unflagging energy,” has been mesmerizing audiences since 1990. For well over two decades, Talujon has committed itself to the growth of contemporary percussion music through diverse performance, commissions, and educational and outreach activities. Highlights of Talujon’s recent engagements include appearances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, Bang on a Can Marathon, Carnegie Hall, ISSUE Project Room, Miller Theatre, and New York Historical Society. International performances include Taipei’s Lantern Festival, Italy’s Sound Res Festival, and a tour with Steve Reich and Musicians.
In addition to its diverse performance schedule, Talujon has conducted residencies, clinics, and master classes at institutions across the United States, including Harvard, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Stanford, and the universities of Virginia, Oregon, and Buffalo. Notable commissions and premiers include collaborations with composers Dewa Alit, Nick Brooke, Chien Yin Chen, Louis Karchin, Alvin Lucier, Eric Moe, Steve Ricks, Ralph Shapey, Henry Threadgill, Ushio Torikai, and Julia Wolfe.
ABOUT THE WILLIAMS PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE AND MATTHEW GOLD
In programs featuring cutting-edge new music and important works of the twentieth-century, the Williams Percussion Ensemble (WiPE) surveys a vast terrain of sound and rhythm. The ensemble employs all manner of percussion instruments, found sounds, and electronics to create music that resonates across boundaries of genre and discipline. In addition to music for percussion alone, the group presents works for mixed ensembles and new and experimental music for a range of instruments. WiPE often works directly with composers and collaborates with artists in diverse media in order to explore the connections among sound, form, image, and movement.
Matthew Gold, director of the Williams Percussion Ensemble, is a percussion soloist and chamber musician who appears across the United States and internationally presenting concert programs, master classes, and lectures. Based in Williamstown and New York, he is a member of the Talea Ensemble and the Talujon percussion group. Gold is an Artist in Residence in Percussion and Contemporary Music Performance at Williams College, where he directs the Williams Percussion Ensemble, I/O Ensemble, and the annual I/O Festival of New Music.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Institute’s library, consisting of more than 275,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark, which also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; Bank of America Museums on Us; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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