A few weeks ago we looked at cymbals. Today – the Bass Drum. Bill has posted a highly entertaining and heartfelt tribute to the Bass Drum called Bass Drums Anonymous. In it, the Bass Drum speaks of the sadness of towels and other mutes that curtail her resonant undampened sound, the lack of respect for… Read more »
Film accompaniment has intrigued NEXUS ever since NEXUS created the chilling score for the Academy -award winning film “The Man Who Skied Down Everest”. They have created the film score for the NFB’s “Inside Time” about the bank robbing “Stopwatch Gang”, and for their 25th anniversary they undertook an unusual film project with Atom Egoyan… Read more »
For those of you who are into the technical bits that go on behind the scenes in a NEXUS concert, I asked Garry what instrument he was playing at last Wednesday’s performance of John Cage’s The City Wears a Slouch Hat. To me, it looked like a portion of his Baschet (pictured at Left) –… Read more »
It was a great pleasure to hear two NEXUS premieres last night: the world premiere (performed by 2X10 and NEXUS) of Norbert Palej’s Virgiliana and the Canadian premiere (performed by NEXUS and 5 actors) of the new revival of John Cage’s “lost work” The City Wears a Slouch Hat. NEXUS performed Palej’s strong response to… Read more »
The stage is set for the concert tonight. See you there!
Just a reminder that NEXUS will be performing at the New Music Festival on Wednesday evening this week, January 23 at 7:30. Admission is FREE. The concert takes place at Walter Hall in the Edward Johnson Building at 80 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C5 NEXUS will be performing with the dynamic piano duo 2X10,… Read more »
One of the wonderful aspects of being a musician is the ability to meet musicians from other places and to share ideas. I first met Ritsuko Matsumoto in August,1998 when she traveled from her home in Japan to participate as a contestant in the Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competition and Festival at the Eastman… Read more »
Did you know that NEXUS has a wealth of informative workshops and website information on Cymbals? Bob Becker has an excellent lecture-demonstration called The Magic and Mystery of Cymbals which is described in detail here . You can also find Bob discussion of the cymbals he used (and why — with photos) at a performance… Read more »
NEXUS will be performing at the New Music Festival ina new 3-movement work entitled “Vergiliana” that they have jointly commissioned from composer Norbert Palej. The piece will be in homage to Cage and his influential contributions to percussion and piano music. NEXUS worked directly with Cage many times – their performances of Cage’s seminal work… Read more »
NEXUS will be premiering a new work by composer Norbert Palej at the New Music Festival in Toronto on January 23rd. The concert will be in the University of Toronto’s Walter Hall at 7:30 p.m. The piece has been commissioned by NEXUS and the piano duo 2X10, and is entitled “Vergiliana”. There are three movements:… Read more »
Bob Becker has a great clinic available called Melodic Snare Drumming and Rudimental Arithmetic. Melodic Snare Drumming is a conceptual approach to playing snare drum that involves physically hearing or imagining a melodic accompaniment while performing. Bob says the idea “is in fact very old, and for centuries was the system through which military-style drumming… Read more »
Did you know that Toru Takemitsu commissioned Jo Kondo to write a piece for NEXUS for 25 cowbells? Titled Under the Umbrella, the piece was recorded at John Wyre’s home outside of Norland, Ontario in August 1980. Now the recording has been re-released by CP2 recordings, on an album that also features Jo Kondo’s orchestral… Read more »
Here’s an unusual bit of early NEXUS history. The Internet Movie Database references John Wyre and NEXUS providing the soundtrack for a 1974 film “Monkeys in the Attic: A Film of Exploding Dreams”. The film won the Prix Khalimer as well as Best Foreign Film at the Toulon Film Festival in France in 1974. Written,… Read more »
Thanks to everyone for the great turn out at the Fisher Center, Bard College, for this weekend’s revival of “The City Wears a Slouch Hat”, John Cage’s 1942 radio play. The evening was a great success. It was called “John Cage: On & Off the Air! ” and it was designed to spotlight Cage’s fascination… Read more »
