Winter 2024 Newsletter
The Aftermath
Dear Friends,
After the completion and premier of Explorations of Extraction and Decay presented at the Audium SF in September I am now dovetailing into the beginning stage of a new work. This Fall, a piece about the lives of the unhoused in and around San Francisco has clearly shown itself to me as the next work I wish to create. Please read below for details.
in this issue:
+EED plays again at Audium January 19, 20, 26, 27 at 8pm www.audium.org
+UNHOUSED/UNHEARD project/an introduction
+MKCC + The songs of Georgian men
EXPLORATIONS OF EXTRACTION AND DECAY
(a palliative song cycle for bodies and stuff)
(EED)
If you missed it in September, here is your chance!
EED is sort of, partly, about composting and now, in a new phase of work in the form of mix downs (to Quadrophonic sound and stereo) and reconfigurations of audio and visual aspects, I find myself embarking on what feels like a composting process with the content of this piece. Appropriate.
These ventures will create spin-offs, remixes, and shortened versions of the original Audium work, which is the definitive and really only “complete” version of the piece I believe, as it was so specifically made for that space. Thanks again to the Audium for the opportunity, as well as the work of Eric Oberthaler and Catherine Hollander on the audio production and video aspects, respectively.
UNHOUSED/UNHEARD (working title)
This evening-length work will center around the stories of unhoused individuals in San Francisco.
The first step will be partnering with an aid organization to help identify a handful of currently or formerly unhoused people willing to be interviewed. I will then create individual audio portraits through techniques I continue to develop of weaving, layering, and embedding my own vocals with these recorded voices, integrating looping, stacking, and repeating spoken voice, singing, and whispering. Layered with instrumentation and field recordings appropriate to the individuals being featured, I hope to open myself and the process to an organic, attuned, and humanistic response.
Within this piece will be a series of individual audio portraits woven together into an evening-length work.
My hope is that the stories revealed through this project, with the voices of the unhoused at their core, will help audiences witness and recognize the inherent humanity in the people they may take for granted, or overlook, on the streets of our cities. I am currently seeking partnerships, funding, a presenting venue, and other support for the project.
Please contact me for any contribution ideas or offerings.
MKCC/Georgian men singing
Click image to stream on Spotify.
Since last Spring, I have been participating in the Marin Kitka Community Choir run by Kelly Atkins. Getting to learn folk songs from places like Bulgaria, Georgia, and the former Yugoslavian region through this choir has been a rich experience. Kelly is an incredible singer and director, and the group is sweet, dedicated and supportive. There really is something special about a community choir.
At some point during related listening, I ran across Ensemble Kolkheti and fell in love with the album pictured here from 1991. This is music so beautiful it often brings tears to my eyes. Have a listen if you like, and tell me what you think!