Kasha & Aaron, excerpt from the audience-directed improvisation...

Kasha & Aaron, from the concert/discussion at Reuter Center on the UNCA campus, March 29th 2009. Part of the point of this day's program was to engage the audience in philosophical consideration of the process of music-making.

In support of that concept - which had been woven throughout the afternoon's performance - and for the sheer fun of it, we had the audience set up some parameters for us to spontaneously respond to, in improvisation. We wanted to emphasize how much music CAN be like conversation, where it may not necessarily be the most-tightly-crafted poetry, nor the most innovative ideas of "new alphabets!" or such, but simply the pleasure of conversation-like co-creation in real-time.

So the audience set us up with some emotional qualities (you'll hear us coming out of their choice of a "contemplative" middle section into their choice of a "triumphant" final section carried by Aaron's sudden melody - strangely Copland-esque as it turns out,, now that I sit back and listen to it...), and we demonstrated some different sorts of scales and modes which they chose "mixolydian" for one section and "major" for another etc, and they chose some time signatures and some other such directives, from which we played.

We wrote the audience's suggestions on a white-board so they could all enjoy the sensation of MAKING musical choices, and seeing the process so concretely, and enjoying the (if we were successful at this game!) correspondence between what they had asked for, and what they heard. Great fun. I might like to do a much more elaborate, long, version of that game, someday...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• improvisation
• piano
• cello
• music
• aaron
• kasha
• asheville