oh no! fluxus!

Dear Friends: I am happy to announce officially our fourth season Oh No, Fluxus! All hilarious puns aside ("Oh No" = Ono comma Yoko), we are planning on incorporating Ono's work alongside selections from her Fluxus coterie. In keeping with CMM tradition, these unconventional works will be programmed with a diversity of musics - Schoenberg, Corbett, Mozart, Schumann, just to name a few. Truly, I believe it will be a great season.

the annihilation of passive voices

Confused by the title? Indeed. Recently, I became painfully aware of my overuse of the passive voice. Generally, I consider myself an adept writer, however late-nights, metaphorically full-plates, and slap-dash efforts to finish lingering academic commitments have facilitated my grammatical back-slide. I read something recently that proclaimed something to the effect of "your verbs should attack your nouns." I take it as a declaration of action, of rhetorical combat: fight the good fight against filler words; meaningless (poorly constructed) text. I cannot wait, a new project!

Not totally unrelated, I am presently resurrecting my Italian. As my studies progress, I find that my knowledge of English grammar (re)gains lucidity: the components of language vivify and solidify. Even as I write this little flurry, my mind fills with thoughts of tenses, subjects, verbs, direct objects...exhilarating! Don't be surprised if, nel futuro, you see alcune parole in italiano.

So how does all this relate to Chamber Music Midwest? On the most basic level: program notes. Better. Program. Notes. Excited? On a less literal level, I'd suggest that "annihilating passive voices" is central to Chamber Music Midwest's mission. I strive to make the festival about active participation (dare I say "voices") for both audience and performer--a goal I intend to further realize next season with performances from Grapefruit and pre- and post-concert activities. Sarà meravigloso!

yoko, oh no!

The great thing about having your own music festival is that you can entertain ideas like programming Ono's Cut Piece. For our immediate future, this is completely not feasible. Let us all take a moment to imagine what it would be like if I performed Cut Piece--wherein the audience cuts off the performer's clothing until she/he is naked (or nearly so)--at First Lutheran Church of New Richmond. Right. It basically goes without saying that this would not be an option. However, I like the idea of programming some of Ono's works (how very conceptual of me!). Until recently, I'd been largely (though admittedly unjustifiably) an Ono naysayer, but taking an open and unbiased look at Cut Piece and the rest of her Fluxus-era oeuvre has completely turned me around. There are a few common themes running through much of her work that fit neatly with our mission statement, the most pertinent being the concept of the gift and the idea of audience participation. There is quite a bit more to say about Cut Piece and the rest of Ono's continually expanding oeuvre, for now I'll just include a video of the 1965 Carnegie Hall performance...

Notice the disturbing pace at which the piece progresses; the carelessness of the audience. There is something deeply unsettling about the performer/participant dynamic: something violent, disrespectful, and crass. Indeed, much more to say...