Poligaze: The End Signals the Beginning /  by Liquid Music

By Lauren McNee

On Friday, November 18 at 8:00pm, Liquid Music audiences filled the sold-out Fitzgerald Theater to see a show nearly two years in the making. Minneapolis’s own indie-rock favorites Poliça and the Berlin-based contemporary ensemble s t a r g a z e shared the stage to present Music for the Long Emergency, a transatlantic collaboration between the two ensembles. Throughout the 2015.16 season, Liquid Music offered audiences the unique opportunity to see this artistic project from beginning to end.  

After 18 months of sending sounds back and forth via Skype and email, collaborating in-person and performing together in Berlin, Poliça and s t a r g a z e became kindred spirits on a personal and musical level. Members of s t a r g a z e arrived in the Twin Cities the Monday before the show for five days of intense rehearsals, friendship and daily breakfast at Mickey's Diner. 

A darkly lit stage signaled the start of the show, as musicians from s t a r g a z e entered one by one, gradually joined by Poliça for a rendition of Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood”, originally written for five claves. Reich’s minimalist piece took on a fresh character with the addition of new instrumental voices, synthesized beats and Leaneagh’s soulful voice as audiences began to hear the distinctive voice of the new band formed by the fusion of these two ensembles: Poligaze.

The stage lighting alternated between a fiery red, reverential purple and celestial star-like effect as Poligaze performed original works, including a touching Prince medley. True to Poliça’s reputation as political mavericks, Leaneagh introduced the show’s finale, “The Long Emergency” by reading a passage from an essay by Sarah Kendzior on “how to be your own light” in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election:

“Write a list of things you would never believe. Because it is possible that in the next year, you will either believe them or be forced to say you believe them.”

"The Long Emergency", a song title with meaning derived from the name of the project, Music for the Long Emergency ended with a standing ovation. As audiences exited the theater, the effect of this beautifully visceral show is clear: this is only the beginning for Poligaze.  

Liquid Music Holiday Gift Guide /  by Liquid Music

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What should you get that persnickety music fan in your life? Or what should you get to help expand the musical horizons of a good friend?  We are here to help with our 2016 Liquid Music Holiday Gift Guide!

Does everybody you know have tickets to upcoming Liquid Music concerts? There are still five amazing projects left in our current season!  Single tickets are available on our website or you can order a Create Your Own Series over the phone, giving substantial savings when you purchase tickets to three or more concerts.  

Besides concert tickets, many past and future Liquid Music artists have released new projects in 2016. Some key releases include:

Vicky Chow, A O R T A
Pianist Vicky Chow plays electro-acoustic works from six contemporary composers.  

Eighth Blackbird, Hand Eye
Hand Eye transports us to a Soul-studded jam session (Ted Hearne), the buzzing contagion of an internet meme (Andrew Norman), a high-velocity adventure-ride (Robert Honstein), a shimmering yet blinding landscape (Christopher Cerrone), the flickering and pulsing of ink on paper (Timo Andres), and a warm but tattered beauty (Jacob Cooper).

Daniel Wohl, Holographic
A Liquid Music commissioned album, released to critical acclaim this year. 

Jace Clayton, Uproot: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture
In his book, Jace Clayton aka DJ Rupture examines the boundaries of music and technology across cultures. With humor, insight, and expertise, Clayton illuminates the connections between a Congolese hotel band and the indie-rock scene, Mexican rodeo teens and Israeli techno, and Whitney Houston and the robotic voices in rural Moroccan song, and offers an unparalleled understanding of music in the digital age.

For the young music lover, consider The Life of James Dewitt Yancey.  This children's book about the life of the hip hop artist better known as J Dilla is boldly illustrated and conveys the joys of both music-making and listening.

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For someone looking to expand their horizons in music, Ben Ratliff's Every Song Ever provides a primer on how to better find music that you love in a world where our choices are so overwhelming.  Ratliff eloquently and simply writes about basic characteristics of music in way that can increase our understanding and appreciation of more complex music.  As a bonus, there are listening recommendations at the end of each chapter (and an associated Spotify playlist) to make the reading much more fun! 

 

For someone looking to make some innovative music on their own, consider a melodica, an EBow, or music-making software such as or Logic Pro X.  

If your friend loves music of the season, consider Phil Kline's Unsilent Night, a fun document of an offbeat holiday tradition and a unique spin on holiday music, emphasizing community and connection.

 

 

And if records, books, or instruments aren't your thing, Liquid Music curator Kate Nordstrum recommends some new attire for concerts (or a night on the town) from Cliché, an uptown boutique.

 

Photo courtesy Cliche.

Photo courtesy Cliche.

Liquid Music CONNECTS: Students visit "virtually" with Nathalie Joachim /  by Liquid Music

By SPCO Education Manager Eleanor GrandPre

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Now in its 22nd year, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s CONNECT program serves students in grades 1-5 in twelve Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools and in three elementary schools around the state of Minnesota and is free of charge to all partnering schools. The program provides supplementary music education resources to students, curriculum and support for teachers, musician visits to each of the participating schools and a live cumulative music education theme-based orchestra concert for each of the students participating in our local program. Our feedback increasingly indicates that teachers are looking for more performances for their students. With the complexities of the school schedules in mind and a heightened desire to deliver more performances to the students, the CONNECT virtual visit program was born.  Liquid Music curator and producer Kate Nordstrum and SPCO’s education manager Eleanor GrandPre worked together to find a partnership with a Liquid Music artist who could provide these schools with a unique and transformative performance that could be experienced virtually.

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Flutist and composer Nathalie Joachim, this year’s Liquid Music Virtual Artist in Residence, was the perfect answer. With a passion for performance, composing new music and introducing music to young listeners, Nathalie is exactly the type of artist students should be exposed to. Additionally, Nathalie is young, a woman, and a woman of color – all underrepresented demographics in the world of classical music and composition.  For the highly diverse student body of the CONNECT program (over 5,000 students), it is especially important, and significant, to see themselves in the artists they interact with.

The nature of the virtual visit posed a unique challenge for students who were used to a live musician visit and our goal was to make this virtual experience just as meaningful as a live experience.  Students frequently looked forward to asking their own questions at the end of a musician visit, so we integrated Q&A to the virtual visit.  In October 2016, Nathalie produced an introduction video for the CONNECT schools. 

Provided to YouTube by TuneCore Aware · Flutronix Flutronix ℗ 2013 Flutronix Music Released on: 2010-10-16 Auto-generated by YouTube.

This video helped students get to know her as a composer, a flutist and singer. Eleanor GrandPre produced an online student guide to help students navigate through the video and stay engaged. In addition to introducing herself to students via this video, Nathalie shared a performance of her piece “Aware”. After viewing the video from Nathalie, students will have the chance to respond with questions via “selfie” video.  These student questions will be sent to Natahlie, and she will select at least one student question from each school to respond to. In the Spring, a second video will be produced that includes the student questions via their “selfie” videos and Nathalie’s direct responses. 

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This is an exciting partnership; one that will help students understand the versatility of a career in music, the exciting world of contemporary music, and give students the opportunity to connect with a living composer.  

Keep up with Fanm d'Ayiti on the Liquid Music Blog:
Introducing Nathalie Joachim

Follow Nathalie Joachim:
Website: nathaliejoachim.com
Facebook: facebook.com/nathalie.joachim.39
Twitter: @flutronix (twitter.com/flutronix)
Instagram: @njoachim (instagram.com/njoachim)
Youtube: youtube.com/c/nathaliejoachim

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