We would like to welcome you to the fourth in a series of intimate house concerts hosted by Bill Thompson, Brent Fariss, and Clark Crawford. In this particular series we will be following a standard format of one installation followed by two performances. We have always struggled with the all too common phenomenon of audience members looking at what is being performed at the expense of listening to what is being performed. Through this series we are hoping to refocus our energies back into the act of listening as a primary vehicle of experiencing our surroundings. Special thanks to Travis Weller for opening up his home to us. Happy Birthday, Travis!!!

Glimpses of America (from the backseat) - Clark Crawford

This installation is more or less a personal affair. When I was a child, my family would go on a two-week vacation every summer. Each vacation was focused on a different region of the country and usually encompassed half a dozen states or more. A large majority of the trip was spent just driving around and looking at the countryside. I would sit for hours and just stare out of the window in the backseat and watch the world pass by. Last summer, the members of ThomFariCraw did some piano recordings and during these sessions, I sat down and just played 20 or so little pieces while thinking about these vacations. I had no idea what I would do with them and only recently formed them into this installation. The design calls for the listener to sit in the center of the room facing in one of the two directions marked by arrows on the floor. You may enter or leave at any point in time. Additionally, you may head to one of the three headphone stations for a “glimpse” into what sorts of things I listened to while on these vacations…

2 pieces for brass instruments - Brent Fariss

These 2 pieces are from a family of works based on brass instruments. They are related to each other in that they are the study of the instruments, focusing on the unique qualities dealing with the movement of air through metal.

untitled trumpet piece is loosely based on Morton Feldman’s A Very Short Trumpet Piece, specifically the 5-note opening theme. The electro-acoustic composition is meant to be viewed as a solo work (in which events happen one at a time, in an orderly fashion…giving a restricted sense of development). All sounds by trumpet with digital processing.

Analysis of the Rose as Sentimental Despair is based on the set of 5 paintings by Cy Twombley. The piece derives its sound and overall structure directly from the paintings. Each movement represents a painting, colors are represented musically by specified pitches, length by size, development by motion, etc... Scored for 2 low-brass instruments, the music is very minimal, focusing on the micro-sounds of the instrument. Special thanks to Harvey, Raul, and Clark for all their help in recording this work.

Harvey Davidson - euphonium
Raul Moreno Escobar - euphonium

untitled improvisation # 2 - Bill Thompson

Presented by:

ThomFariCraw:
modern music initiative

Dedicated to the creation and presentation of the highest caliber of modern experimental music

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