Month: May 2010

May Day is still going at Seattle’s Town Hall. I finished my last two hour set. Highlights for me were Stuart Dempster’s moving tribute to double bassist Matthew Sperry; Byron Au Yong’s Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas; and Michael Lim and Melia Watras’ improvisations on S.O.S. Alas, wifi problems are continuing. Sometimes the network works, other times not so much.

Still to come: The Esoterics; Christina Valdes and friends play Louis Andriessen’s Workers Union; Paul Rucker playing Call, a piece he wrote for cello; and to close the night the Seattle Chamber Players do Nicolai Korndorff’s Get Out.

Hearing and helping emcee this festival has been a tremendous experience.  I’ll be remembering and processing the music a few days.  I am looking forward to hearing Byron Au Yong’s CD of 24 of his bottled operas.  I’m curious about the trial and execution of Joe Hill thanks to Wayne Horvitz.

I hope it happens again next year. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the the afternoon and evening:

Technological problems are preventing me from posting from inside Town Hall so I’ve stollen away to the cafe in the lobby for a quick post.

We are now more than three hours into the festival and we just heard two sections from Steve Reich’s Tehillim by Julia Tai and friends. Tai and her friends will be doing the entire piece later this spring in Magnolia. Look for more information here and elsewhere. It is well worth seeking out.

My two hour emcee block was…well…interesting. It was hard being first and it was hard to draw energy from a crowd that was still coming together. A short piece by the Affinity Chamber Players put everything ahead of schedule by a little bit.

Continue reading May Day! May Day!