Public Recordings is staging a piece of music from 1970 by the radical composer Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) in the Council Chambers of Toronto City Hall. It’s titled “To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe In Recognition of Their Desperation.” In the lead up we’re holding a series of free, public rehearsals in different locations around the city.
You’re invited to come and experience it.
February 13th 6pm-8:30pm
University of Toronto (Walter Hall, 80 Queens Park)
Facebook Event
At 7:30pm members of the public will be invited to participate in a final performance of the score to conclude the rehearsal. Bring an instrument of any kind if you want to play too! (Note: power is limited, so bring a battery powered speaker if you require amplification)
Questions? Email info@publicrecordings.org
You can RSVP to our final performance February 17th at Toronto City Hall Council Chambers. Presented by the Music Gallery.
About the work:
The subject of these rehearsals is Pauline Oliveros’ 1970 score for sound and light called “To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation.” Written in the after-shock of the political upheavals of 1968, the piece considers music’s capacity to express another way of being together– of orchestrating action through a collective practice of listening.
Scored for any number of players and coloured light, Oliveros’ piece asks each performer to choose five pitches with which to play very long held tones. Throughout the performance, the shifting colours of light cue different strategies for listening to and sounding these pitches– creating what Oliveros calls an unusual attention to the relationship between oneself and others.
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For detailed project credits see here.
This rehearsal events was produced in partnership with the Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies; Visual Studies; Faculty of Music. Special thanks: Mitchell Akiyama, Francesco Gagliardi, Eddy Aitken, Jim Lewis, Eliot Britton, Mary-Beth Campbell, Mary Ann Griffin, and Alex Samaras.