HORSE SINGS FROM CLOUD

Music by Pauline Oliveros

program:

In Consideration of the Earth
Buffalo Jam
Quintessential Sensations
Can You Imagine?
Horse Sings from Cloud

Performers: Orr Sinay - Double bass | Aya Lion - Saxophone | Ilan Barkani - Percussion | Maayan Tsadka - Percussive objects, accordion | Adi Snir - Woodwinds

Pauline Oliveros (1932–2016) was a composer, accordion player, and one of the central and influential figures in experimental music of the 20th century. Over more than five decades, she created a vast body of works ranging from early electronic music, free improvisation, text scores, and listening exercises. At the center of her work stood listening—not only as a musical means, but as a way of being present in the world, in the environment, and in relationships with others. She developed the concept of "Deep Listening," which became one of the influential approaches in the field of contemporary music and sound art. The series of exercises she composed, Sonic Meditations, is a result of continuous listening practice with different communities, blurring the boundary between audience/community/performers/composers, and between meditative practice and experimental sound practices.

Oliveros was among the founders of the San Francisco Tape Music Center, a pioneering institution for experimental electronic music. She taught at UC San Diego and worked for years as a performer, composer, and lecturer in the fields of electronic music, improvisation, and interdisciplinary arts. She composed hundreds of text scores, each inviting everyone to perform, without the need for prior musical training. Her texts exist simultaneously as performance instructions and as poetic works in themselves.

In the world of contemporary music, Oliveros is considered a foundational figure. In this country, by contrast, her work is still barely performed, and we are pleased to bring her musical and philosophical work to the forefront of the stage.