Soundings: A Concert of World Premiers by Gernot Blume

Friday, November 8, 7:30 p.m., Agnes Flanagan Chapel

"I do not attempt to imitate the world's musical traditions, but rather to let them resonate in my own imagination, filtered, abstracted, displaced. Ultimately, the music is the texture of my own dreams, reflecting the intercultural life journey of my past fourteen years of living abroad in America." -Gernot Blume

Gernot Blume obtained his B.A. from the California Institute of the Arts near Los Angeles, and then earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan. Blume immersed himself in the world of Balinese and Javanese gamelan, West African drumming traditions, European folk musics, and the Western classical and contemporary heritage of his upbringing. As a pianist and jazz composer he followed the aesthetic pluralism of the influential American jazz icon Keith Jarrett, whose work became the focus of his 1998 dissertation.

After working for many years with improvised musics, Blume has in recent years turned to fully composed scores as a vehicle to articulate his interest in texture, timbre, and nuance. According to composer and flutist James Newton, Gernot Blume's music "blends World Musics, Blues and Jazz, and European classical music in a way that...understands the uniqueness of each of these languages and their ability to co-exist on a new cultural plane. This approach to art is perhaps one of the most significant contributions to the furthering of a new musical aesthetic."

Soundings is a collaborative event involving Lewis & Clark College faculty, students, professional musicians from the Portland area and special guests, Soundings will feature music for large ensembles, chamber groups and soloists, using a panoply of instruments.

Tickets: Free to LC students/$5 employees and alumni/$10 general. College Bookstore or FASTIXX at 503-224-8499.