Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

If the Seattle Icebreaker Fest hadn’t gone so well, I might have been more put off by the surreal morning of departure, which included Bill and I driving madly around the airport on a quest for the unmarked car rental place, and then my plane being several hours delayed because the “glue had to dry” on a repair (???).

Happily I was quickly tossed onto a different flight, and made it home even earlier than expected, miraculously along with my bags, so, no complaining!

Seattle people, I know that you are all chill and hip and everything, but…..signage!

Anyway. The whole weekend was pretty much a big new music love-fest, and for those of you who have been clamoring for details, here are a few:

The first couple of days were relaxed – unfortunately my flight arrived late and I missed a rehearsal, but that was easily rescheduled.

In the meantime there was Space-Needling

and Pike Place Market wandering

as well as plenty of coffee drinking and seafood eating.

Friday was “young composer” marathon day, curated by Alex Ross. Starting at 10am all of us (that would be Mason, Bill, Anna, me, Max, Nico and Judd) gave presentations about our music. Those of you who know me are well aware that public speaking is not even close to my favorite thing to do, but it turned out just fine, thanks to enthusiastic and friendly faces (including another Alex!) in the audience. An excerpt of Tamarack got folks pretty jazzed, as did a recording of electric blue pantsuit.

• aside #1: To the nice guy who came up to chat about the whole late-bloomer topic, I say you go for it!!
• aside #2: I’m quite sure that all of my Fashion Challenges would be solved by Anna and Alex taking me shopping…. should the consumer urge strike, you ladies know where to find me!

The audience continued to expand, and by the time Curator Alex presented his book (which you all must run out and purchase right this minute, because it is a fantastic read and imho the way music history ought to be presented) it was pretty well packed.

Next up was a screening of Stephen Taylor’s film The End Of New Music, which is an inspiring account of twenty-something year-old NYC composers making their way and doing their thing. I show this film to people who need a taste of composer life.

After all this is was finally concert time! Try SOLD OUT concert time. Yay!! Not an empty seat to be found, and it was just the kind of audience a girl hopes for – there was hooting, even a little hollering, there were all the age groups represented, and the feeling of support was Big!

Paul, Laura, Josh and Mikhail did a most excellent job on my piece The Way of Ideas – it was tight (and above all it needed to be tight!), the energy was right on, and the extra little dynamic and phrasing tweaks we made in rehearsal added that extra sparkle. I have no idea how these musicians learned so many pieces for this festival, but from beginning to end they immersed themselves into each composition as they were playing.

Because the day included much food analogy, I can only think to characterize the concert as dinner party:

• Curator Alex would of course sit at the head of the table
• Judd’s At the end of a really great day – the beautiful table setting that makes everyone say wow, this is a really nice place
• Anna’s 1987 – the delicious wine that goes perfectly with the main course
• Max’s Twilight for Adored and Breathless Moments – the mixed green salad with lots of interesting herbs and spices
• Nico’s I Know Where Everything Is – the varied and artfully presented cheese plate
• Mason’s The Life of Birds – the insanely rich chocolate dessert
• Bill’s Michael Jackson – the post-meal dancing and cavorting

Saturday was another marathon composer day, consisting of a slightly older crowd curated by Kyle Gann, whose new book you should also buy asap. Interestingly, this evening included a lot more technological gadgetry than our concert. I wouldn’t say that we use less technology in our work – overall we may use it more, and differently – but for this event we did tend towards the unplugged.

• aside #3: One of my fondest memories from my early 20’s is sitting at the breakfast table with Kyle and another composer, discussing Conlon Nancarrow and astrology over eggs and coffee. Since these were not usual topics of conversation for me, I thought this was really cool!

This concert included some musical heroes of mine – in addition to Kyle, whose music is gorgeous, Janice Giteck’s music was an inspiration during my college years, and I have been a fan of both the music and the writings of John Luther Adams for ages. His music is what I imagine it would be like to live inside the aurora borealis.

You can read some reviews here and here and here and here. It was wonderful to meet everyone and to hear so much fantastic new music. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of this festival. Stay tuned for recordings!