CLARK ART INSTITUTE PRESENTS TWO FREE MUSIC PROGRAMS AS PART OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE’S “I/O FEST”
December 27, 2018
Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Clark Art Institute hosts two segments of the Williams College Department of Music’s I/O Fest on Sunday, January 13 with “Kids Make Music: All Ears” at 1 pm and an immersive-music concert at 3 pm. Both events are free and will be held in the Michael Conforti Pavilion.
“All Ears” is a one-hour celebration at 1 pm inviting kids and their families to discover new sounds and create live music with students and faculty from Williams College. Participants explore the hidden sounds in everyday objects and uncover the strange, wonderful noises in the instruments of the orchestra.
At 3 pm, the Axxea String Quartet, the Williams Percussion Ensemble, and the I/O Ensemble present a one-hour concert of immersive music. Featuring Tristan Perich’s Sequential for string quartet and percussion with gated amplification, the program places audiences deep inside an enveloping sound world in which listening is a form of active exploration.
Perich, whose music has been described by The Wire magazine as “an austere meeting of electronic and organic,” creates work inspired by the aesthetic simplicity of math, physics, and code. His work has been presented around the world, including in the Museum of Modern Art’s 2013 exhibition of his Microtonal Wall for 1,500 individual 1-bit speakers. Sequential invites the listener to burrow deep into the nature of sound and to hear a richly textured aural landscape from within. The program also features performers positioned spatially throughout the pavilion, allowing each listener a unique experience of a sound’s weight, color, speed, and texture.
About I/O Fest
I/O Fest is the Williams College Department of Music's annual immersion in the music of today. Over the course of four days and nights students, faculty, guest performers, and audiences delve deeply into new and adventurous music from around the world and down the street. Performances, talks, and workshops are held in the ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance and at the Clark, with a special interest in unconventional spaces and modes of performance. Featuring renowned guest artists and performances by the I/O Ensemble, IOTA, and many others, I/O invites listeners to explore the music of now.
I/O Fest was founded in 2010 by Steven Bodner, Matthew Gold, and David Kechley.
About Axxea String Quartet
Since its formation in 2016, the Axxea String Quartet (Ben Mygatt and Jeffrey Pearson, violins; Rebecca Christainsen, viola; Caroline Tally, cello) has established itself as one of the foremost chamber groups at Williams College. Under instruction from Muneko Otani and Ah Ling Neu of the Cassatt String Quartet, Axxea keeps an active concert schedule, performing at Williams and beyond. In 2018, the quartet represented Williams at the Intercollegiate Chamber Music Festival and Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival, where they worked with Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet. In past years, Axxea has collaborated with the Williams College Percussion Ensemble and performed with I/O Festival.
About Williams Percussion Ensemble
“The Williams Percussion Ensemble stood under the warm May sun and sent sharp-edged, tightly organized rhythmic salutes into the Berkshire hills.” —The Boston Globe
In programs featuring cutting-edge new music and important works of the twentieth century, the Williams Percussion Ensemble (WiPE) surveys a vast terrain of sound and rhythm. The ensemble employs all manner of percussion instruments, found sounds, and electronics to create music that resonates across boundaries of genre and discipline. In addition to performing music for percussion alone, the group presents works for mixed ensembles and new and experimental music for a range of instruments. The ensemble often works directly with composers and collaborates with artists in diverse media in order to explore the connections between sound, form, image, and movement. WiPE strives to offer creative programming, innovative presentation, and immersive experiences in which the listener is invited to hear music in new ways.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; open daily in July and August. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. Free admission is available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; EBT Card to Culture; Bank of America Museums on Us; and Blue Star Museums. For more information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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