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Brisbane Powerhouse presents with the support of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music About Mini[]MaxA celebratory excursion into music and ideas about music beyond minimalism and the death of John Cage Date Friday 26 July to Saturday 3 August, 2002 Mini[]Max: Minimalism to the MaxJuly 1964 – Stuart Dempster supervises Terry Riley’s IN C in San Francisco It is sometimes useful to remember that what we think of as “new music” is not really all that new. If John Cage is the “father figure” of new music, we might recall that he died a decade ago. That first generation of American minimalists beyond Cage and Morton Feldman (both dead), LaMonte Young, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich – are now themselves Venerable Elders of the Tribe. Hundreds of younger figures have followed in their footsteps and passed beyond their shadows. And let’s not forget the Grandfather of Minimalism, the inimitable Erik Satie whose music and presence will pop all week in our festival. Mini[]Max investigates what has happened to new music over the past decade or so. A concentrated, week-long celebration, it focusses on music beyond those seductive patterns of In C unleashed in California almost 40 years ago. Mini[]Max is unashamedly selective [although neither dogmatic nor exclusive] and more than a mite xenophobic in its exploration of strands of new music shared between the USA and Australia. More specifically, it points connections between New York–Seattle–Melbourne–Brisbane, accidents of circumstance or geography that may not at first glance point to anything especially significant. In the musical ideas of William Duckworth we gain a clearer view of music beyond Minimalism. Fellow composer-writer Kyle Gann has described Duckworth’s music as “remarkable for its limpid, effortless-seeming melodic logic and deceptive simplicity”. He hails Duckworth as the American voice of PostMinimalism, “a style marked by diatonic tonality, a steady and sometimes motoric beat, strict contrapuntal or rhythmic procedures, and a consonant smoothness”. Duckworth’s Cathedral is the foundation stone of Mini[]Max. Four concert-webcasts of this “interactive edifice of the 21st century” share the Powerhouse stage with a kind of retrospective of his work and that of colleagues associated with him, several of whom come to Australia for the first time as members of “The Cathedral Band”, performing online with colleagues in several other site around the world. Among these is the legendary trombonist, composer and self-proclaimed “sound-gatherer” Stuart Dempster, who first visited Australia in 1973 to discover for himself techniques of didgeridoo playing in Arnhem Land. Stuart returns to Brisbane as Guest Artist at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music of Griffith University, major partners in this Mini[]Max week. Stuart will create new works for himself and Brisbane-based musician-improvisors, fellow trombonist Simone de Haan and young didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton. In addition to the Conservatorium, Mini[]Max assembles other musical personalities and organizations under the Powerhouse tent. From Melbourne come two American-born musicians – Warren Burt and Donna Coleman – from Adelaide comes composer-pianist Stephen Whittington, to join our family of local musicians, among these the two ensembles, Isorhythmos and Topology. The other day our local newspaper proclaimed Brisbane as “the new Seattle”. Another “Portal to the Pacific”, perhaps? It is certainly the happening place in terms of new music in Australia at this time. And at its epicentre is the Brisbane Powerhouse, a building and family that we have grown to love in a little over 18 months. Thanks to Zane Trow and his team and the many people on both sides of the PacPond who have helped over the past two years to pull this first MiniMax together. Within the constraints of a single week of music-making, we make no claims of globalism or even-handedness. For every composer or stylistic bent represented, a dozen or a hundred have been set aside. For another time, perhaps. We’d like to think of this as MiniMax #1 … Vincent Plush Mini[ ]Max features:
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Brisbane Powerhouse is an initiative of Brisbane City Council with principal sponsors
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