ISSUE Project Room presents the second annual Darmstadt Institute, a festival of interdisciplinary programming including concerts, lectures, workshops, film screenings, and talkbacks which celebrates and critically examines the continuum of the experimental tradition in music and related media. Darmstadt: “Classics of the Avant Garde” is Brooklyn’s celebrated experimental music series, curated by Zach Layton and Nick Hallett.
Highlights for this year’s Institute include a marathon celebration of Anthony Braxton’s 65th birthday, a rare performance by sound art pioneer Z’EV, and William Basinski’s new work Vivian & Ondine in a special presentation at 110 Livingston Street (ISSUE Project Room’s new home). The month focuses on presenting cutting-edge new music ensembles and premieres by established and emerging composers alike (Elliott Sharp, Zeena Parkins, Dafna Naphtali, Katherine Young, Mikael Karlsson, and Aaron Young to name a few) within a curated environment of film screenings, lectures, and talkbacks, with an attempt to synergize live performance and pedagogy in the public sphere. Crossover bands that embody the experimental tradition, such as Grouper, Zs, Talibam!, and Man Forever (Kid Millions from Oneida’s new composition for multiple rock drummers) are programmed side by side with Darmstadt’s reputable interpretations of canonical avant garde music–an evening of Luc Ferrari premieres presented by composer David Grubbs and Ensemble Pamplemousse, a rare performance of Pauline Oliveros’s “Gathering Together” for four pianists (as part of an evening of piano music starring Stephen Gosling, Emily Manzo, Kathleen Supové, and Michael Century), and a lecture-performance on Kenneth Gaburo’s system of music theory by scholar Larry Polansky and trumpeter Nate Wooley, to name a few…
“Yes, we’re prone to hyperbole on occasion, but trust us when we say that Darmstadt’s Essential Repertoire series…is one of the most significant musical presentations of the season” – Time Out New York
Watch the trailer by Matthew MacVey of last year’s Darmstadt “Essential Repertoire” festival: http://www.youtube.com/v/_oQ33uzhcpw
