Bird Watching 2

While talking with and watching Eighth Blackbird, I was struck by the atmosphere generated by the group. As with Alarm Will Sound, the mood was relaxed, but goal oriented. Members would offer criticism and jokes freely and often in tandem. Yarn/Wire, the other group in the ethnography, created a much less festive atmosphere. A much younger group, Y/W was serious, though I think that my presence made them uncomfortable. Because there is no role for a silent observer in rehearsals, my presence can disturb and change the setting. Over time the ethnographer's presence often becomes less disturbing, but I worry that I won't be able to accomplish that level of comfort with the groups. Maybe that's a problem, maybe it's not.

As I've blogged before, new music ensembles generally demonstrate more physical empowerment than most traditional classical music ensembles. At 8bb's concert I spoke with a woman who felt the same way. She described why she enjoyed new music concerts, "I like a lot of African music, where the music is the body is the performance... and I just don't feel like I see that at orchestra concerts." The emphasis on the performance as text, rather than the idea that the text exists beyond or outside of performance, is common among new music ensembles. This represents a fundamental change in classical music culture, where deified composers are brought into the concert hall and worshiped. I remember, for example, taking a road trip with a friend to hear the Atlanta Symphony play Mahler's 1st Symphony. We were excited to hear a great orchestra, but the piece (the text) was what got us in the car for 4 hours. When you go to hear an Eighth Blackbird concert, the music is certainly a draw, but most people go for the group, rather than the "music itself". It seems that classical music may be in the midst of a serious change in ritual, which suggests a serious change in belief.

Bird Watching

This week I'm spending time with Eighth Blackbird at Music'08. Today Nick Photinos, nicknamed "the Phot" by his flock, spent over an hour with me in an interview. We talked about the group's history, group roles, and group money. The members of 8bb (as they are described on their blog) met and formed while at conservatory together, which is extremely common for new music ensembles.

Tomorrow I'll see them rehearse and give a master class at Music'08. Nick and Matt commented on how they would try and turn the swearing down, but I encouraged them let it all hang out. Rehearsal's are a treasure trove of info about groups, how they treat each other, what's important, what roles manifest, etc. The group will also perform this Sunday at 3 PM at CCM in the Great Hall of Tengeman University Center.

My Kind of Critic

As many of you probably now know, Tim Russert died last Friday. Though I only recently started watching his show, Meet the Press, I had quickly developed a passion for the critical yet polite atmosphere Russert maintained on his show. I remember especially his interview with Hilary Clinton's campaign chairman, Tim McAuliffe in which McAuliffe made a comment about Clinton leading in the popular vote; Russert immediately corrected him, pointing out that he was counting Michigan and Florida when he probably shouldn't. It was a simple way of holding McAuliffe immediately accountable.

Russert wasn't afraid to demonstrate an opinion, though he maintained a fair approach with his guests. I really admired how he accomplished this, and I really admired him.

What's happening?

This ethnography is tricky. People say one thing and do another. They talk about accessibility while simultaneously promoting extremes. In the Bang on a Can Marathon program Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon write:

This is music that crosses boundaries, that has no easy place to rest - these are composers who push the limits of what they have inerited. Tuning systems our tempered scales cannot hope to contain, personal technologies blown up on an epic scale, world music that the world traditions themselves cannot explain, indie pop that's more indie than pop. The marathon exists so that these kinds of boundaries can be safely crossed. We are ecstatic you are here to cross them with us.

How can you be more indie than pop? The writers emphasize a distance between a music's origin and its current place. That place is navigated only with the help of the Bang on a Can crew, "The marathon exists..." as if to say, "We will guide you through these confusing and amazing waters."

It was an amazing concert, but why does the rhetoric emphasize it so much? "...world music that the world traditions themselves cannot explain." Explained on whose terms and to what ends? I sometimes become so put off by this type of language that my original fascination with new music and its ensembles gives way to a sense of discomfort, a sense that this is somehow very wrong.

It seems that this culture has sought cultural abstraction. Music itself rules the night, so they say here, and this music, "...has no easy place to rest." These are the words of true believers, of priests and clerics. Have faith and you will experience the divine.

Henry Kingsbury said that a music conservatory is like a temple. My question: what draws people to worship?

Audience Spaces at Bang on a Can

Sorry for the long delay; I'm on my fourth trip in three weeks, so life's been a little hectic. I still come home to packed boxes. This will be my final trip for a little while, so I should be able to get pack in the swing of things.

Anyway, I spent last Saturday at the Winter Garden conducting fieldwork at the annual Bang on a Can Marathon. Carrying all the equipment throughout the concert posed quite an exhausting challenge, but it has proven very fruitful. The marathon exhibits a range of music spanning from (modernist) new music to more pop oriented acts. Audience members, especially classically trained musicians make disticntions between these genres, though I was not always able to tell the difference.

Perhaps of the most striking characteristics of the concert was the way audience arranged themselves. People sat according to their interest and familiarity with the music andce members its associated communities. In the large picture here, the stage can bee seen in the background. The space underneath the palm trees (remember this is an indoor venue) had rows of chairs and benches, behind which rise two large stair cases, one an inversion of the other. People sit on the steps during the concert.

Main characteristics of the classical performance ritual, e.g. a strict maintenance of audience silence, dissipated once I was out from under the trees. “We wanted to talk,” explained one young woman when asked why her group sat in the left wing. Another group explained that they could not find four seats together in the palm trees; other fringe groups expressed similar opinions. People sitting in the palm trees generally came alone or in very small groups. They also had a greater familiarity with the music and those performing it.

In addition to organizing themselves in space, the audience changed throughout the evening according to the acts performing. The longer one stayed, the greater the dedication to new music in general; attending an entire marathon is an achievement recognized within new music communities. One performer expressed his regrets about not being able to stay for the entire concert, even though he had been there for at least eight hours, "I can't stay, I know that's lame, though..."

The general feel was one of communal celebration and advocacy. The event served as a financial fund raiser for Bang on a Can, it provided new music ensembles the opportunity to raise their profile, and in general affirmed the status of individuals within new music communities. New music communities negotiate between the accessible and the idiosyncratic, emphasizing broad appeal while simultaneously promoting the unique qualities of musical groups. This tricky balance originates from a dissent with the modernist self-isolation and from the mass anxiety concerning classical music's relatively marginalized status.

The Bang on a Can marathon allows for one of the most important status symbols in new music communities, performance. Performance, especially to large audiences, signifies the quality of the musicians; the more performances and the more prestigious the venue, the higher the status of the musician, both performing and composing. To a lesser extent, this is true of the audience members. The greater the number of attended concerts, particularly concerts like the BoC marathon, the greater the cultural capital of the audience member.