..the Hult Center's Soreng Theatre on Wednesday, June 7, for a multi-media concert featuring acoustic pieces (for string quartet, wind quintet, piano, and strings and percussion); tape-based electronic music; and works Theurgic Seed, one incorporating flute, string quartet, and tabla master Abhiman Kaushal (who's accompanied musicians from Ravi Shankar to Philip Glass), the other adding string orchestra, two DJs, and synthesizers. The show features musicians from the UO, Eugene Symphony and Oregon Mozart Players, as well as multiple slide projections, computer animation, liquid lights, sound effects, slides and video projection, including video of the Warner Creek blockade, WTO protests, and more. So this is as at least as much a show for rock fans as avant-garde types, and even if it sells out, it'll lose money, but Jair says the expensive Soreng was the best venue available to accommodate the show's multimedia aspects. As with any..production - especially one that runs from fusion rock to string quartet - there's an element of risk for the audience, too. But isn't risk taking what we want from our young - and, for that matter, our old - artists? If they're willing to put so much on the line and take so many chances, can't we listeners do the same? |
One
of the great things about living in a college town is the many opportunities
to tap into students' confluence of idealism and energy. At a time
when the present seems pretty grim - take the pseudo "choice" between
Gush and Bore, please - it's heartening to look over to the campus
and see real hope for the future, in the arts, politics, and so much
else.
If it all sounds like an updated '60s happening... well, what's wrong with that? It's great to see young artists looking at what's going on in the world around them, not just their own navels. And just as today's student activists are using...technology and education to make themselves better informed and connected, so, too are the most ambitious...artists and musicians. You can see an example, and get audio and video previews of Theurgic Seed's music, at the band's website (www.theurgicseed.com). Last fall, Theurgic Seed produced crowded houses at the Bijou and Tsunami Books, and has an enhanced CD on the way. What I've heard of their music is primarily rock-based, featuring dreamy-to-driving guitar jams, yet informed by a commendably genre-busting attitude. As Jair says, "What do you call an orchestrated fusion-rock piece mixed with DJs/world music with tabla, acoustic instruments/ jazzy rocking vibraphone, steel drum piece ... all by the same band?" |
