Indeterminate Meltdown: Sunset at the Graffiti Barn

Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Graffiti Barn, Tivoli Bays
Free and open to the public

To walk there with the crowd, meet at 6:15 pm at the yellow gate in the northwest corner of the parking lots at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College!


Our Indeterminate Meldown series is a semiannual, low-key, jam session in which we invite YOU to play with Contemporaneous! We are always looking for new and exciting places to play these concerts, and we are particularly excited this time to be playing in an abandoned warehouse near the Tivoli Bay (just north of Bard College) lovingly dubbed the Graffiti Barn.

At each show in this series, we pair Terry Riley's timeless minimalist masterpiece In C with a piece inspired by its elements of indeterminacy, improvisation, and performer discretion. This time, we will be opening with Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy's A Fatal Optimist, a fast and crazy ride for any instruments we chose. Come hear our awesome, new toy piano make it's historic Contemporaneous debut in this wild, Gaelic romp!

Following a performance of this piece by a group of Contemporaneous musicians will be Riley's In C, a piece that can be played by any number of any instruments, for any length of time. To make this piece come to life, we want everyone - all instruments, voice types, and levels of experience - to come and join us! We believe that the best way to experience this piece is to play it, listening to everything going on around you as you ad to the glorious sound in real time. If you just want to join us to listen, that's cool, too - grab a blanket and enjoy the music!

If you want to take a look at In C before playing it with us, just click here and download your favorite flavor (C, Bb, F, Eb) from IMSLP.

Indeterminate Meltdown: Sunset at the Graffiti Barn Program

Donnacha Dennehy (b. 1970): A Fatal Optimist (2008) (United States premiere)
Terry Riley (b. 1935): In C (1964)

Getting There