14 students from the USC School of Music performed in a 30-member ensemble directed by Greg Stuart, USC clinical assistant professor of music, on Nov. 18 at the Columbia Museum of Art. This concert received national recognition in The New York Times on Jan. 15.
Stuart teaches an experimental music course taught for USC honors college students.
“I was overjoyed. I was thankful and quite surprised that a class got such press in its first year of being,” said Alexi McHugh, third-year public health student. “I was also happy for Greg Stuart, he’s such a talent and deserves the good press.”
Steve Smith, the newspaper’s ArtsBeat columnist, described the performance as “patient, unpredictable, exceedingly beautiful mingling of simple structures, improvised textures and field recordings.”
Michael Pisaro from the California Institute of the Arts composed the piece with the help of Stuart. The entire concert was a one-hour long piece separated into various acts.
Smith pointed out in his column that even though Pisaro has released many great CDs, this piece of work with locals of Columbia is the most impressive.
“The USC students involved in this event, both music and non-music majors, were engaged and enthusiastic,” Stuart said. “Each one deserves this notable honor.”
The piece combined the sounds of wind, water, small animals and airplanes using voice and standard orchestral instruments.
Pisaro got his inspiration for the song from the Congaree National Park. Students used plastic bags, cardboard boxes and other every day items to portray the environmental sounds.
McHugh played mints, a tea cup, a copy of The Daily Gamecock and a medal, objects not typically thought of as instruments.
“I liked the way the players could interact with each other silently and make changes as the piece was being created,” McHugh said.
Pisaro traveled from Los Angeles in November to co-direct the piece with Stuart at the Columbia Museum of Art. Pisaro and Stuart met at Northwestern University and have been working together since 2006. This piece, “asleep, forest, melody, path,” is the third collaboration between Pisaro and Stuart for the Columbia Museum of Art. The song is not being sold, but can be accessed on SoundCloud.
Stuart has been working to explore other alternative percussion techniques, such as sustained friction, gravity-based sounds via small grains, sympathetic vibration and electronic instruments.
Experimental music students recognized nationally
