event highlights | news travels goings-on | event details | past gazzetti | pamelaz.com

Upcoming:

August 30, 2020: Global
Principles of Non-Isolation in Audio
Pamela Z duo with Wobbly

October 6, 2020: Global
Tuesday Talks: Society of Fellows
Speaking of Music | Music of Speaking

October 15, 2020: Global
Live-Stream presented by EMPAC
Pamela Z in a live-streamed talk

October 24, 2020: Global
Mills Music Now Online
Pamela Z solo concert

Gentle Gazzetta Readers,

The past six months have constituted, without question, the most bizarre period I can remember in my lifetime. From my unexpectedly final month in Rome to the subsequent month of lockdown in various temporary quarters upon my return to the States, and the four months I’ve just spent confined to my San Francisco studio, this has been a truly strange time – for me and for pretty much everyone on the planet. The very nature of time itself seems altered. And nearly all of the strange ch-ch-changes that we’re trying to face are echoing throughout the whole world which, incidentally, seems to have shrunk to the size of my 27” display.

On the Road?
This is where I usually share reflections with you about my travels – my touring engagements and art-seeing escapades of the past quarter. But, since the last issue of the Gazzetta, not only have I done zero traveling, but I’ve barely budged from my desk chair. I’ve actually checked, and it’s been more than 20 years since I’ve gone this long without traveling. In fact, before this, I rarely stayed put for more than a month.

However, I have given surprisingly numerous performances and talks, had a world premiere, and attended an impressive number of events during this time – all from the comfort of my Aeron chair.

In April, I joined with Claire Chase, Ione, and some 500 members of the global contemporary music community (probably some of you included) in a world-wide version of Pauline Oliveros’ Tuning Meditation.

Robert Wilson napping while performing Cage's Lecture on Nothing

Shinichi and Dana Iova-Koga of Inkboat

Still from Katy Tucker's video

Donald Swearingen in Room(s)

PZ in Room(s)

Zeno Baldi in Room(s)

PZ performs Breathing (from inside her sound booth) for Room(s)

Screenshot from Worldwide Tuning Meditation

Carla Kilstedt shows her "score" during the Bang On A Can Marathon

Nic Photinos plays Bang On A Can

Paula Matthussen chats with the
Bang On A Can holy trinity

Sarah Cahill playing Annea Lockwood

Dana Jessen at Bang on A Can

Joe Catalano's diagram of the audio and videophone set-up used by all six sites for Pauline Oliveros' Four Decades of Composing and Community in 1991

This was particularly poignant for me because Pauline was central to the first live-streaming networked event I ever participated in, back in 1991 – connecting artists from six cities (New York, Kingston, Houston, Oakland, Los Angeles, and La Jolla) via a video modem over phone lines – when networked audio sounded somewhat garbled, and slow-scan video traveled at about a frame every five seconds.

Who would have imagined the ease and fidelity with which we all casually “zoom” around the world now?

A Season Full of Concerts
In spite of the lock-down, my calendar has been brimming with activity. In May I presented a new offering of my Room Series – making it “Rooms” (plural) with artists performing from rooms in Verona Italy (Zeno Baldi), Oakland, CA (Donald Swearingen), and San Francisco (yours truly). And June was packed with live appearances for me. I gave a solo performance on Bang On A Can’s Live Online Marathon, played in a concert presented by Gray Center Sound Sessions, and performed on Experimental Sound Studio’s Vox Effusis Series.

I had a premiere of sorts this month. I completed And and And, a work for cello, long delays, and tape, commissioned by New York-based cellist Amanda Gookin for her Forward Music project. It was co-commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory and was supposed to premiere as a live performance (with video projection by artist Katy Tucker) in May as part of the Armory’s “100 Years | 100 Women” project celebrating the 19th Amendment. They decided to take the project online, and created a streaming archive of all the works. It went live on August 18th, and the piece is now available on a page of the site.

I also gave a some live-streamed lecture/demos and talks, and was able to participate in Q & As with the remote audiences – taking some questions from the chat and some delivered audibly and on camera. It’s remarkable how quickly the world has habituated to this new reality.

All these Zoom appearances have given me some perspective about live-streaming events. I've endeavored to work out ways to tailor my performances to the situation – making them “site-specific” in the sense that I acknowledge the act of playing to this little camera for an audience experiencing my work on a flat screen. I've tried to exploit the intimacy afforded by the venue – something not necessarily possible on a stage.

Seeing Art From The Same Chair
One of the strange attributes of our current era is the total obliteration of geographical barriers. Suddenly every event is a possibility regardless of location. So I have attended concerts, screenings, exhibitions, and talks presented from all around the world. The only obstacle seems to be time zone. Occasionally, start times can be challenging, but that hasn’t stopped me when I really wanted to “attend” something. And travel-time is no longer in the equation.

I’ve attended all three of Bang On A Can’s online marathons (including the one I was in). I’ve seen beautiful live performances by Rinde Eckert, Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk, Inkboat, Sarah Cahill, members of Del Sol Quartet, Alvin Curran, Laetitia Sonami, Kathy Supové, a live-stream of Satie's Vexations, and so many more. I’ve also watched timed screenings of pre-recorded events (often paired with real-time live talks and Q & As with the artists). The limits of the concept of liveness, or “real-time” have been put to the test, mutated, and expanded during this COVID time.

Busy Busy Busy
I’ve been incredibly busy with composing and recording, and still have loads of projects to complete and quite a few live-streaming appearances on the schedule going forward. Scroll down for details on some of the upcoming events I have planned. Maybe I'll see you smiling at me from those rows of little rectangles!

Love,

PZ

PZ soundchecking for Bang On A Can with Jody Elff

gazzetta | event highlights | news travels goings-on | event details | past gazzetti | pamelaz.com

upcoming event details:

Principles of Non-Isolation in Audio (PONIIA)
a live-streaming radio performance featuring:

Pamela Z + Wobbly, Akosuen + Cinchel, and Moe! Staiano Conducts
w/ interludes by Professor Cantaloupe

Sunday, August 30, 2020 5pm - 7pm PDT

Pamela Z and Jon Leidecker AKA Wobbly perform a duet during a live-streaming sonic program that also includes Akosuen + Cinchel and Moe! Staiano as part of PONIIA Principles of Non-Isolation in Audio at soundcrack(.)net roaming radio at 5pm

Principles of Non-Isolation in Audio is a improvisational sound performance series that streams weekly on Sunday nights at soundcrack.net and twitch.tv/sounjaerk. The focus of PONIIA is on real-time streaming improvisation and connecting artists separated by physical distance. PONIIA is hosted/organized by bran(…)pos and J.Soliday

Stream it HERE

Schedule:

AKOSUEN <+> CINCHEL

PAMELA Z <+> WOBBLY

MOE STAIANO CONDUCTS featuring
Melne Murphy, Drew Wheeler, Robin Hiroko Walsh, Karl Evangelista, Josh Pollock, Lisa Mezzacappa, David Slusser, Tom Weeks, Joshua Marshall, Bruce Ackley, and Mark Clifford

Proceeds benefit Black Lives Matter

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The Society of Fellows of The American Academy in Rome Presents:
TUESDAY TALKS

Tuesday October 6, 2020
3pm PDT / 6 pm EDT

Pamela Z
Speaking of Music | Music of Speaking