Dear Friends & Students...
Join me in celebrating the birth
centennial of composer JOHN CAGE on April 2!
EAST
MEETS WEST: The Gamelan Music of JOHN CAGE
for Prepared Piano
Monday
evening, April 2, at 7:30pm
Bird Studio at Occidental College
Robert
Ward, pianist
I'll be performing selections from
his SONATAS AND INTERLUDES as a lecture-recital. If you aren't prepared
for these pieces you're in for a surprise and a real treat. The sound of
the piano is totally transformed into the sounds of a gamelan orchestra, those
colorful pitched percussion ensembles still heard today in Java and Bali.
I'll talk about how Cage came up with the idea, explain and demonstrate
the materials that produce these exotic sounds, and perform some of the loveliest,
most colorful and rhythmic piano pieces you've ever heard. The program
lasts about an hour and you're invited to come up afterwards to try the piano
yourself.
Robert
P.S. I had the pleasure to
perform these in New York some years ago and got this nice note from Cage
afterwards. "Thank you for all that you are
doing. I enjoyed the expressive timing (rubato) very much, and the
preparation is very colorful. Thank you for playing so beautifully."
