Good vibes, tuba and piccolo at novel ‘Night of Arts’
THE first Purpur Night of Transgressive Arts brings together a formidable array of cutting edge artists from South Africa for one night only at Youngbloodafrica in Cape Town.
The event, along with its name, developed out of conversations between local composers Michael Blake and Pierre-Henri Wicomb during a composer residency in the Baltic several years ago.
YoungbloodAfrica, which has been developing a performing arts programme to complement its rich roster of visual artists, provides the ideal setting for this boundarybashing venture.
Starting at 5pm on Thursday, YoungbloodAfrica’s three-level layout has multiple performing spaces offering the perfect habitat for new music and art with a predisposition towards the offbeat, unconventional and wacky.
Top performers and improvisers include percussionists Frank Mallows and John Pringle, bassist Brydon Bolton, pianists Mareli Stolp, Meryl van Noie and Coila Enderstein, trumpeter Alastair MacDonald, saxophonist Gareth Harvey, flautist/piccolo player Marietjie Pauw and tuba player LeNique Brand.
They will bring to life scores by composers Frederik Rzewski ( De Profundis – text by Oscar Wilde), Tom Johnson ( Chord Catalogue), John Cage ( Musicircus), Marcel Duchamp ( Sculpture Musicale), Michael Blake ( Five Pieces for Piccolo and Tuba 1971), Pierre-Henri Wicomb ( Domicilium), and improvise with choreographers/dancers Richard September, Mziyanda Mancam, visual artists Dedre Fouqet, Kira Kemper, Francois Knoetze, actor/director Jaco Bouwer and electronica artist Miles Warrington.
Ninety years afters its premiere in Postdam, Kurt Schwitters’ now classic Ur-Sonate, a richly-textured sound poem in four movements, will receive its long-awaited South African premiere by local Dada diva Wilmien Wicomb.
As befits the city which hosted a similar event at the Drill Hall in the late 1960s, Purpur Night of Transgressive Arts
Musicircus
British daily The Guardian recently described Musicircus as “simply an invitation to bring together any number of groups of any kind, preferably in a large auditorium, letting them perform simultaneously anything they wish, resulting in an event lasting a few hours. There is no score, no parts, nothing specified except the concept.”
Cage himself said: “You won’t hear anything: you’ll hear everything”.
The show runs at 70 – 72 Bree Street until midnight.
Tickets: R50 at the door, but booking is advised: 021 424 0074, marie@ youngblood- africa. com. Cash bar and snacks available at the Beautiful Food restaurant situated in the gallery. Info: www.michaelblake.co.za, or www.wicomb.net