Fwd: Announcing HIGH ZERO 2001, Sept 13-16

[Eric Leonardson <eleon@ripco.com>]

It's not a Loopers' Fest but it's definitely an East Coast Festival 
where you can hear not only looping but a whole universe of strange 
and wonderful sounds! I know because I was in it last year and the 
year before...A truly amazing and inspiring event.

Best regards,
Eric

>To: mangkunegaran@hotmail.com
>Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 04:39:06 -0400
>From: "HIGH ZERO" <high_zero@lycos.com>
>X-Sent-Mail: off
>Reply-To: high_zero@lycos.com
>Subject: Announcing HIGH ZERO 2001, Sept 13-16
>X-Sender-Ip: 207.22.66.52
>Organization: Lycos Mail  (http://mail.lycos.com:80)
>
>HIGH ZERO
>3rd Annual Festival of
>Experimental Improvised Music
>Baltimore, 2001
>
>Thursday Sept. 13th-Sunday, Sept. 16th
>The Theater Project
>45 West Preston Street
>Baltimore, Maryland
>http://www.highzero.org
>
>A dazzling mix of innovation, imagination, and integrity now in its 
>third year, the HIGH ZERO festival is one of the most idealistic and 
>elevating experimental music ventures in North America. Join us in 
>September for four exhilarating days of musical exploration!
>
>Our Mission
>A unique festival in North America, HIGH ZERO is focused solely on 
>new collaborations in freely improvised experimental music. 
>Internationally famous musicians play side by side with younger 
>ìunknowns,î united by their commitment to the musical imagination. 
>For four days in September each year, Baltimore becomes a fertile 
>meeting-ground for a group of inspired players drawing from an 
>international subculture. The festival exposes large audiences to 
>this radical music in its pure form. Each year, dedicated musicians 
>and sound-artists come as individuals to participate in entirely new 
>improvised collaborations.
>
>The festival exposes large audiences to this radical music in its 
>pure form. Large-scale public concerts, recording sessions, 
>workshops, and guerilla street performances are all part of the 
>heady mix. The players are carefully selected by the festival's 
>organizers for their refined, unique music, whether it is based 
>around dramatic intensity, humor, specially designed and built 
>instruments, original approach, raw sound, or nearly superhuman 
>instrumental technique. The resulting collaborations challenge the 
>limits of music and delight by their audacity, expressiveness, 
>immediacy, and innovation. It isn't about stars or bands; it is 
>about the most uncompromising and stimulating improvised music we 
>can bring together.
>
>Why Baltimore?
>Now in its third year, HIGH ZERO is a grassroots-organized event and 
>brainchild of the critically acclaimed (and unfunded) RED ROOM 
>performance space, an ongoing series which has hosted over 300 
>performances of experimental music since it began in 1996. (See 
>www.redroom.org on the web.) Avant-garde music in North America is 
>often played in small clubs and art galleries like the RED ROOM, but 
>HIGH ZERO breaks through to a larger audience. Surprisingly, in 
>recent years Baltimore has joined Chicago, New York, Seattle, San 
>Francisco, and Montreal as a center for avant-garde musical activity 
>in North America. HIGH ZERO, now in its third year, is an outgrowth 
>of this unique development of Baltimore culture, and also a rare 
>coming together of artists from Europe and North America.
>
>
>The History of HIGH ZERO
>
>"Best New Cultural Event, 2000"
>- Baltimore City Paper
>
>"No one walked away disappointed, as this year's first annual HIGH 
>ZERO Festival of Experimental Improvised Music left the large crowds 
>at every session enthralled. "
>--Steve A. Loewy, Cadence Magazine, 1999
>
>ìA striking glimpse into the avant-garde and a creative process 
>limited only by the imagination. î
>--Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun, 2000
>
>Born September of 1999 to the wailing of fire alarms, growling tubas 
>and home-built electronic instruments, the first HIGH ZERO festival 
>was a startlingly unusual event, mixing sold-out and capacity crowds 
>with highly challenging and engaging music. Cadence magazine praised 
>the event to the heavens and wondered how it could happen in a place 
>like Baltimore.  Indeed, audience members and local musicians alike 
>were all aware that a fundamental shift had occurred during the 
>festival in the visibility of this typically underground music. The 
>festival exposed over 700 audience members to new collaborations 
>between 30 local, national, and international players over four long 
>concerts. The music was inspired, outlandish, moving and thought 
>provoking. In 2000, HIGH ZERO drew even larger crowds than the first 
>year, added recording sessions and guerilla street performances, 
>and, most importantly, created a space for some incredible, inspired 
>music. Two CDs, a documentary video, and an au
>dio-visual documentation web site from that festival are in the works.
>
>This Year's Festival!
>September 13th to 16th, HIGH ZERO will bring together 28 amazing 
>individuals culled from underground experimental music scenes of 
>Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 
>This year, we will hold all five long concerts (twenty sets!) over 
>four days at The Theater Project, a beautiful venue with great 
>acoustics and stadium seating. Through the intense collaborations of 
>these diverse players, we expect an extraordinary four days. A 
>schedule of sets will be available made available in August.
>
>
>The musicians of High Zero 2001:
>Thomas Ankersmidt (saxophone) Berlin
>Jim Baker (Arp synthesizer) Chicago
>John Berndt (saxophone, electronics) Baltimore
>Dan Breen (bass, drums) Baltimore
>Mike Bullock (contrabass) Boston
>Charles Cohen (Buchla synthesizer) Philadelphia
>Daniel Conrad (flute, voice, self-built instruments) Baltimore
>Mike Cooper (guitar, electronics) Rome
>Helena Espvall (cello, banjo) Stockholm and Philadelphia
>Neil Feather (self-built instruments) Baltimore
>Eric Franklin (theremin, self-built instruments) Baltimore
>Lafayette Gilchrist (keyboard) Baltimore
>David Gross (reeds) Boston
>Andy Hayleck (guitar, electronics, self-built instruments) Baltimore
>Katt Hernandez (violin) Boston
>Peter Kowald (contrabass) Wuppertall [Germany]
>Keenan Lawler (guitar, electronics) Louisville
>Eric Letourneau (computer, various) Montreal
>Lukas Ligeti (drums, electronics) New York City
>Kaffe Matthews (violin, electronics) London
>Chris Meeder (tuba) New York City
>Ian Nagoski (electronics) Baltimore
>Catherine Pancake (percussion) Baltimore
>Evan Rapport (reeds) Baltimore
>Dean Roberts (guitar, electronics) Milan
>Leslie Ross (bassoon) New York City
>Jason Willett (various) Baltimore
>Jack Wright (reeds) Boulder
>
>More Information
>Press information, including downloadable hi-res photos and 
>biographic material will be available shortly through 
>www.highzero.org.
>
>As in the previous two years, HIGH ZERO 2001 is funded through 
>admission and individual and corporate donations. If you would like 
>to support the festival and make a tax deductible donation, purchase 
>a festival pass, or inquire about affordable advertising in the 
>festival program, call John Berndt at 410 889 5854 or email at 
>johnb@berndtgroup.net.
>
>
>
>
>Get 250 color business cards for FREE!
>http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/

---------------------
Upcoming Performances, Broadcasts, Etc.:

Friday, June 22 at 9:00 pm Solo performance opening for Tiny Hairs 
<http://www.tinyhairs.com>. 4612 N. Lincoln Avenue (next to the Davis 
Theater). Phone (773) 728-5010.

New on Compact Disc: Winter Construction (dceo003)
A compilation of Chicago artists with accompanying zine featuring tracks
by MORA, Kyle Bruckmann, Eric Leonardson/Yasuhiro Otani, Rosenberg
Skronktet, Fred Lonberg-Holm, the Flying Luttenbachers, Ernst Karel/
Brent Gutzeit/ Jason Soliday, Lozenge, Metallux, TV Pow, and others...
available on-line <http://www.deadceo.com/>.

Listen to the High Zero 2000 Documentation Site
http://www.highzero.org/highzero2000documentation/index.htm

More info on the web: <http://pages.ripco.net/~eleon>