Garden of Memory
New Music Bay Area and Lifemark Group Arts present
Garden of Memory 2010:
a walk-through concert to celebrate the Summer Solstice
Monday 21 June from 5 to 9 PM
At Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., in Oakland.
Admission is $15 general, $10 students and seniors, $5 kids under 12
(kids under 5 are free). Tickets are available from www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door.
For information, contact New Music Bay Area at listings@newmusicbayarea.org or call Allison for more information, at (510) 228-3207.
Composers and Performers:
- Albert Behar
- John Bischoff
- Krys Bobrowski
- Monique Buzzarte
- Sarah Cahill
- Cornelius Cardew
Choir - Luciano Chessa
- Beth Custer
- Thomas Dimuzio and
Wobbly - Paul Dresher and
Joel Davel - Dynosaur
- Adam Fong,
Edward Schocker and
Ken Ueno - Larnie Fox and the Crank Ensemble
- Fred Frith
- Ellen Fullman and
Theresa Wong - Molly Holm
- Laura Inserra
- Jaroba and
Keith Cary - Stephen Kent
- Henry Kaiser
- Kitka
- Sylvia Matheus
- Dylan Mattingly
and Eli Wirtschafter - Gregory Moore
- Amy X Neuburg
- Orchestra Nostalgico
- Maggi Payne
- Philip Perkins
- Dan Plonsey‘s
Daniel Popsicle - Randy Porter
- Gyan Riley
- Gino Robair
- John Sanborn
- Jason Victor Serinus
- Dean Santomieri
- Trio Ozu
- William Winant Percussion Group
- Wobbly
- Pamela Z
For updates about performers, see: http://www.gardenofmemory.com/
This is always one of my favorite musical gigs of the year—the annual Garden of Memory walk-through performance event at the Julia Morgan-designed columbarium, the Chapel of the Chimes, located in the Piedmont district of Oakland, California. Imagine an incredible building of over 110 chambers filled with the filtered light emanating from stain glass windows and skylights, with interesting musicians and vocalists in nearly all the rooms! The cross-blending of sound is absolutely amazing, as the “audience” walks through the chambers, passage ways and staircases, past gurgling fountains and gardens full of tropical plants.
At sunset, there is a beautiful lavender-pink glow filtering through the opened skylights above; and the sound of bells fills the entire columbarium during the sunset bell-ringing ceremony. If you can be in Oakland on June 21st, you don’t want to miss this event! You can arrive anywhere between 5:00 and 8:30 p.m., although I would advise allowing yourself at least two hours to walk through the building and experience as many of the performers as possible. In addition to a who’s who of contemporary Bay Area musicians and composers, there are usually dancers, poets and other performers who use this specific site as the context for their performance pieces.
Members of the Cornelius Cardew Choir who will perform at Garden of Memory include:
Tom Bickley, Director and Co-Founder
Katherine Setar
Brad Fischer
Marianne Tomita McDonald
Cathryn Hrudicka
Dave Cowen
Rachel Wood-Rome
Sharon Vaughn
Eric Theise
Sarah Rose Stiles
Jonathan Segel
Jaime Robles
Ann O’Rourke
Bryan Lira
Jed Holtzman
Philip Greenlief
Tom Duff
Mark Daniel
Amar Chaudhary
Susan Angst
In past years the Cardew Choir has performed four sets that have included 4-5 different pieces. This year, the entire performance will be variations on the popular Heart Chant (2001), by composer Pauline Oliveros, with improvisation by the choir and members of the audience, who are invited to join in. Simple instructions will be provided at the performance site.
At sunset, the Cardew Choir will be performing composer/musician Brenda Hutchinson’s daily bell sunset observation and celebration piece. Everyone is invited to join us! You may want to bring your own bell. The sun sets at 8:33 p.m. on June 21st.
A map will be provided at the door so audience members can locate all the musical ensembles and their performance sites, including the Cardew Choir, within the building grounds. Due to expected warm weather, comfortable shoes and clothing, and water bottles are advised, although water is available on the first floor near the front entrance on Piedmont Avenue. Although there are extensive stairways inside the building, there is elevator access to all floors.
Articles and Blog Posts about the Event:
Photos and Videos:
Following is a short, unedited YouTube video clip from a previous year’s Garden of Memory event—at about .29, after the camera pans beyond the instrumental group to the vocalists, you can see (and hear) me briefly, singing with the Cardew Choir. I’m dressed in a black and striped Adobe t-shirt and black pants:
New Music Bay Area . Chapel of the Chimes . Directions . Press Release
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