NPR reviews Tomoko Sauvage and M.C. Schmidt at the 2010 High Zero Festival

NPR on Tomoko Sauvage and M.C. Schmidt at the 2010 High Zero Festival:

I could have listened to this set all night.

The full piece published over on the A Blog Supreme blog includes audio of the performance as well as pics and a lengthy review.

12th High Zero Festival of Experimental Music

The 12th High Zero Festival of Experimental Music All Week!
see www.highzero.org for all details; numerous site specific performances around town

Tuesday 9/21 at Gallery 4, H&H Building, 7:30
Opening of "Electric Petting Zoo," High Zero sound installations by Tristan Perich, Karl Ekdahl, and Julie Benoit
With an opening performance by:
- Tristan Perich, in duo with Tom Goldstein, on crotales, perform a hypnotic minimalist composition by Perich
- Ich Auch: First live performance of synth/drums improv duo with Karl Ekdahl.
- Salamander Wool Quartet. Carson Garhardt's music, in first ever quartet format, with Dan Breen, Paul Neidhardt, and Walker Teret.
 - Tristan Perich, 1 bit improvisation.
Recommending donation for performance: $5

Wednesday 9/22 at 2640 Space; 8PM $5
Ghost Dancers: An special atmospheric concert by  Susan Alcorn (pedal steel guitar) and Claire Barratt (movement) at 2640 Space (2640 St. Paul St.).

Thursday 9/23, Opening Night at Theatre Project, 8;30, $12
Experimental performances with Shelly Blake-Plock, Ami Dang, Owen Gardner, Liz Meredith, Tuna Pase, Karen Borca, Tiffany Defoe, Shayna Dunkelman, Marc Miller, Michael Muniak, M.C. Schmidt, Dragos Tara, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Andrea Neumann, Juanjosè Rivas and Wobbly.

Friday 9/24 at Theatre Project, 8;30, $12
Experimental performance with Andrea Neumann, Tiffany Defoe, Hans Koch, Stewart Mostofsky, Karen Borca, Ami Dang, Ayako Kataoka, Tomoko Sauvage, Owen Gardner, Liz Meredith, Dr. Johannes Rosenberg, Drew Daniel, Dan Deacon, Tuna Pase, Juanjosè Rivas.

Saturday Matinee 9/25 at Theatre Project, 1PM, $12
Two special projects conceived and curated by Baltimore's Ayako Kataoka and Dan Deacon involving numerous High Zero performers.

Saturday Night 9/25 at Theatre Project, 8;30, $12
Experimental performance with Karen Borca, Hans Koch, Liz Meredith, Michael Muniak, Tuna Pase, Gary Smith, Shelly Blake-Plock, Dr. Johannes Rosenberg, Wobbly, Ju Suk Reet Meate, Marc Miller, Stewart Mostofsky, Tomoko Sauvage, Shayna Dunkelman, Juanjosè Rivas.

Sunday 9/26 at Theatre Project, 8;30, $12
Experimental performance with Keith Fullerton Whitman, Owen Gardner, Marc Miller, Gary Smith, Shelly Blake-Plock, Dan Deacon, Ju Suk Reet Meate, Ayako Kataoka, Hans Koch, Tomoko Sauvage, M.C. Schmidt, Drew Daniel, Shayna Dunkelman, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Wobbly.

Baltimore’s 12th Annual High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music Again Set to Organize Chaos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8.31.10




High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music
September 23rd - 26th, 2010
@ The Theatre Project   45 W Preston St., Baltimore

site: highzero.org

twitter: @highzero

PR contact: diymummy@gmail.com



Baltimore’s 12th Annual High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music Again Set to Organize Chaos


"High Zero Festival is the premier showcase for spontaneous sound." NPR

“An utterly confounding yet utopian vision of musical possibilities.” Wire

High Zero is the premier festival of Improvised, Experimental music on the East Coast, being fully devoted to new collaborations between the most inspired improvisors from around the world.

“A fertile laboratory of musical possibility without equal.” Signal to Noise

The festival brings together 28 core musicians each year, but also involves a much larger subculture of musicians in Baltimore and on the East Coast. Musicians play sets of improvised music alongside improvisers they are often meeting for the very first time on stage. Unlike many related festivals, High Zero is not narrow in terms of sensibility or subculture, but rather widely inclusive of all the different types of experimental music-making in the moment.

“The continent’s finest four days of all-in improv and otherwise musical exploration.” City Paper

"Baltimore is becoming a crucible for serious experimental music produced outside of academia and concert halls." ArtPapers

The fact that half of the festival's core participants are from Baltimore speaks to the depth of Baltimore's experimental music subculture, which in recent years has grown to be one of the richest cities in the country for experimental art.

“Best Music Festival” City Paper and Baltimore Magazine

"A striking glimpse into the avant-garde and a creative process limited only by the imagination." Baltimore Sun

The festival has a unique structure. HIGH ZERO is focused solely on new collaborations in freely improvised experimental music. Internationally famous musicians play side by side with younger "unknowns," united by their commitment to the musical imagination. Each year, Baltimore becomes a fertile meeting-ground for a large group of inspired players, drawn from a fascinating international subculture.

"Could there possibly be a better place for a festival of cutting edge, improvised music than Baltimore?" Washington Post

The festival exposes large audiences to this radical music in its pure form. Large-scale public concerts, recording sessions, workshops, and guerrilla street performances are all part of the heady mix. The players are carefully selected by the festival's organizers for their intense, unique music, whether it is based around dramatic intensity, humor, specially designed instruments, original approach, raw sound, or nearly superhuman instrumental technique. The resulting collaborations challenge the limits of music and delight by their audacity, expressiveness, immediacy, and innovation. It isn't about stars or established projects; it is about the most uncompromising and stimulating new improvised music we can bring together.

High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music

September 23rd - 26th, 2010
@ The Theatre Project   45 W Preston St., Baltimore

Musicians from Afar

Karen Borca (NYC): bassoon
Shayna Dunkelman (NYC): percussion
Ju Suk Reet Meate (Portland): trumpet
Hans Koch (Switzerland): bass clarinet
Andrea Neumann (Germany): inner piano
Tuna Pase (Istanbul): voice, flute, laptop
Juanjosè Rivas (Mexico City): circuit bending
Tomoko Sauvage (Paris): porcelain bowls, water
Gary Smith (United Kingdom): guitar
Li Tieqiao (China): saxophone
Keith Fullerton Whitman (Boston): electronics
Wobbly (California): electronics



Musicians from Baltimore


Shelly Blake-Plock: stringed instruments
Ami Dang: sitar, voice, electronics
Drew Daniel: electronics
Dan Deacon: electronics, tuba
Tiffany Defoe: saxophone
Owen Gardner: strings
Ayako Kataoka: electronics
Liz Meredith: viola
Marc Miller: guitar
Stewart Mostofsky: electronics
Michael Muniak: feedback
M.C. Schmidt: electronics



High Zero Special Projects


Dan Deacon (Baltimore)
Ayako Kataoka (Baltimore)
Dr. Johannes Rosenberg (Australia)
Dragos Tara (Switzerland)


High Zero Festival Sound Installations


September 21st - 26th, 2010
@ Gallery Four   4th Floor / 405 W Franklin St., Baltimore

Sound Installations
Tristan Perich (NYC)
Karl Ekdahl (Baltimore)
Julie Benoit (Baltimore)




For set lists and information about High Jinx street happenings, see: www.highzero.org


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