More on spontaneous music making...

I'm fascinated by the concept of spontaneous public art, when you encounter a performance in a suprising place outside of the theater or concert hall or a work of art outside of a museum. This is a topic I've written about before here and here. I just ran across another video that shows how "ordinary" people can be involved in such a pursuit. It's a piece called "Ring the Keys" by composer Rusty Banks.

A scene from one of my favorite movies fits in perfectly here. Dancing flash mobs have been popular for the past few years, but if we go back to 1980, we can see an early version of an impromptu urban choreographic happening:

Spontaneous Public Art

I've written about this on more than one occasion, but I never get tired of seeing spontaneous, public displays of art. When you stumble upon something unexpected, a woman dancing in a park, a man reciting poetry in a subway station, a beautiful mural on a city wall, someone singing along to their iPod (oblivious to anyone passing by), it surprises you and brightens your day. The arts can seem so formal and stuffy when they are on stage or in a museum, with their dress codes and high admission prices. But they don't have to be! Check out this video below by the Copenhagen Philharmonic, as they assemble one by one in a train station to perform Ravel's Bolero for anyone who cares to listen. No tuxedos, no pages of program notes, no high-priced tickets--just a wonderful piece of music played by professionals (who are obviously enjoying themselves) for an enrapt audience. This is what flash mobs should be all about instead of creating chaos and inciting riots.

Spontaneous Public Music Making

For the last several rehearsals, all but seven members of the Wind Ensemble have been rehearsing with the orchestra for graduation. That left me with one trumpet, one euphonium, four alto saxes, and one baritone sax. So, instead of sitting around with nothing to do, we put together two fun ensembles. The first is a quick arrangement I did of Canzon III a 6 Voci by Giovanni Gabrieli. This was written in the early 1600s, probably for brass instruments, but it works surprising well for our chamber group. My music theory class was down to one student after the seniors left, so I encouraged him to write an original work for the same instrumentation. He came up with a delightful modal piece in 3/4 with interesting syncopations and texture changes.

We worked on both pieces for a few days and then decided to take our show on the road. We wandered around the school during our class period looking for odd places to play. We began in the student union where we were largely ignored, except for the appreciative teacher who was supervising the empty space:

We then played in the open hallway space known as "The Blocks." Some people seemed very annoyed with our disrupting their precious social time, but one student decided to be a groupie and follow us.

Our next stop was the front entrance. Bad acoustics but lots of natural light:

We found a much more receptive audience in the north gym, where a number of girls were on treadmills and exercycles. The guys lifting weights next door went about their business, clanging barbells and grunting:

After picking up another groupie, we went to the library lobby. Here we drew a large audience and more followers:

When we finished up in the courtyard, we had a number of fans listening, as well as the rest of the Wind Ensemble, who had just gotten out of rehearsal. All in all, it was an interesting experiment, and we brought live music to some people who would have otherwise heard only their iPods and car stereos today.

Unexpected Music

We should all enjoy life this much!

I feel this way when the Jazz Band takes over the front lobby on the day before vacation. When was the last time you made music or danced where it was unexpected? We should all do this more often!