Blanton’s ‘Soundspace’ heads to 1960s New York
The Blanton Museum of Art’s SoundSpace easily claims must-see status.
Twice a year, Austin’s new music/alt-classical community —led by Soundspace artistic director Steve Parker — fills expected and surprising space throughout the museum, performing music that dovetails with the art on display.
The series returns on April 27 at 2 p.m., this time with a lineup of once-experimental works by famed minimalist composers Steve Reich, Phillip Glass and others who based in Lower Manhattan in the 1960s.
The Soundspace program dovetails with the sublime exhibit, “Converging Lines: Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt” that brilliantly illuminates the fascinating friendship of the two artists who became close friends in the heady creative climate of 1960s Lower Manhattan.
The Austin-based Invincible Czars will lead off the program, performing their adaptation of Terry Riley’s iconic In C.
Other highlights include…
- Reich’s Clapping Music and Drumming performed by line upon line percussion,
- Reich’s Different Trains by the Felix Quartet , principals of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and Austin Lyric Opera
- Duo performances on piano harp by Outlier, comprised of New York based Max Bernstein and San Antonio-based Mark McCoin.
- Jason Phelps of Intergalactic Nemesis will perform conceptual works from La Monte Young’s Composition 1960
- Brent Fariss of the New Music Co-opwill showcase several new compositions.
- One Ounce Opera will invite visitors participate in Glass’s The New Rule, a work composed for both amateur and professional singers
Also look for sound installations in unexpected locations throughout the museum, including iReich’s Pendulum Music and Solo Motion Sound and Glass’ 1+1.
Admission to “Soundspace” is free with museum admission: $9 for adults, $7 seniors, $5 students. Free for UT students, faculty and staff and children 12 and under. www.blantonmuseum.org