The Series ... sets Music in dialogue with other Art Forms: with Literature or spoken Language; with Dance, Acting, Body Movement; with Visual Arts - through the creation or installation of objects and light.
Each concert sets out to explore many different kinds of interaction between Music and one of these Art Forms. The word Dialogue is used in a broad sense of communication between two protagonists and the communication itself may take on all kinds of forms: a serving or illustrating relationship, an actual dialogue with mutual influence, or a symbiosis where the one can hardly be considered separately from the other.
Searching for reciprocity and spontaneity in the process, the element of improvisation is an essential part of these programs, as is contemporary composition: each concert features one work by a contemporary composer, either especially composed or arranged for the series.
Thoughts ... Music just like all Art is based on the principle of interaction. Be it the artist in dialogue with his inner world to express a certain content or the interactive relationship between artist and public, Art is essentially communication. If every art communicates, what happens when different arts communicate with each other? The question came up naturally through various experiences from both perspectives, the performer's and the listening/viewing one. Dealing with the means of interaction within and through Music I discovered more and more how Music is so closely related to language and movement, that one comes easily to a point where it is difficult to make a clear separation between the two. In fact it seems the conceptual discrimination between these Art Forms has not always been the usual way of looking at things. When people in ancient Greece used the myth of the nine muses to illustrate the different ways we express ourselves in Art, interestingly Music was not separated from other Art forms such as Dance or Poetry but a part of their practice. Terpsichore, the muse of Dance was traditionally depicted with a Lyre on her knees accompanying the choir of dancers. Making music and dancing were in a way two sides of one coin. Similarly Euterpe, muse of lyrical poetry and song is traditionally depicted with a flute, even the muse of historical writing was also the muse of the heroic song. Then again it is a fascinating search and challenge to look into the ways Music and Visual Art relate to each other. Music being the creation of sounds and Visual Art being traditionally concerned with the creation of objects, they seemed fundamentally different from each other. Yet there are elements of movement and shape, contrast and structure that can serve as links. Not to mention that Music has an illustrative quality just as Visual Art.
I look forward to sharing the connections found between music and its "art siblings" - to entertain and find new perspectives in the search for connections, be it in Art or in Life.
at WMP Concert Hall, 31 East 28th Street, New York, NY between Park Ave. South & Madison Ave. ; Subway "28th Street" 1/6/N/R Trains Tickets available at WMP: Suggested Donation $ 20, or buy a Season Ticket: 3 concerts for $ 50 Phone: 212.582.7536 ; E-mail: admin@wmpconcerthall.com