Events from the 2018-2019 Season
of roses featuring Yvonne Troxler, Glass Farm Ensemble
On the program, there was the world premier of Troxler’s new piano piece Zwischenraum and solo piano works by Paula Matthusen between charm and the constant law of motion for two players (with Juraj Kojs) and miniature electronics, Julia Wolfe’s East Broadway for toy piano and recording, Juraj Kojš In the Mist for piano with hands and feet, Michael Jarrell Etude, Ian Wilson Stations and Louis Andriessen The memory of roses for toy piano and grand piano. The focus of this evening’s program was in the “in between”- moments, resonant time and silence. The program expanded the piano range with extended techniques and additionally explored the sounds in and around the piano.
The annual Street Fest was back for a night to celebrate performance, art, music and technologies. We welcomed back Troy Rogers and his truck loaded with robotic arms, bows and whistles that were here to play music controlled by a computer. Outer Source graffiti artist painted the truck to the rhythms of the robotic beats. We were particularly excited about the appearance of our special guest Onyx Ashanti who has developed a full-body musical system, playable with hands, arms, mouth and body. The artist list further boasted with the local talents Catalina von Wrangell, Sophia von Wrangell, Nicole Martinez, Jose Hernandez Sanchez and Federico Bonacossa in performances that stretched over genres.
FETA produced yet another gathering of experiments in sound, arts, technologies and community-building. Why do we do things the way we do? The artists were prompted to create, explore, experiment, mediate and share ever-expanding universe of sensory galaxies—trajectories that begin, get interrupted and rediscovered. FETA asked questions, enabled performance spaces and listened. The FETA XX FEST presented exploration of 2 private residencies, their indoor and outdoor potential for creative experience through 2 public evenings. Navigation through unique spaces as artists occupied them with their expressions enabled witnessing edgy performance practices, conversations via panels and learning via workshops. Mechanical, acoustic and electric energies revealed multidimensional sonic love hidden in corrugated plumbing tubes, a collective memory embedded in a dress, sounds of a Miami-inspired electronics, virtual cave of moving paintings and unexpected encounters (every toy has a sonic soul) with wall and moving art. International Women’s Day was celebrated too on March 8! Participating artists include Spacepants (CA/NC), Margaret Lancaster (NY), Chris Chafe (CA), Nestor Prieto (CT), Paula Matthusen (CT) and Miamians Jacob Sudol, Chen-Hui Jen, Federico Bonacossa, Jose Hernandez Sanchez, Catalina and Sophia von Wrangell, Nicole Martinez and Alena Rebmann. Curated by Juraj Kojš.
On Sept. 7, 2019, FETA launched Justly Tuned, a new concert series engaging with social and political issues that explored music as communication, commentary, and catalyst for change. The series debuted with the Bent Frequency Duo Project – Jan Berry Baker (saxophone) and Stuart Gerber (percussion) – performing music by Laurie Anderson, Colette Coward, Sarah Hennies, Elainie Lillios, Amy Williams, Olivia Kieffer, and the world premiere of Dorothy Hindman’s 13 For 3 Through 5. The audience was invited to a post-concert discussion exploring the meaning, practice, and ramifications of socially conscious programming in today’s classical music.
2018 also marked the 6th year of the FETA Prize in Sound Art. The program was established in 2013 to promote a broad range of contemporary American sound and installation arts. Through a two-stage blindfold evaluation process, the judges Jenny Olivia Johnson, Michael Boyd and Joo Won Park chose a small pool of finalists: Brian House’s Urban Intonation, Wendy Steiner’s Traces on the Farther Side, Stephen Lilly’s Background and Jaime Oliver La Rosa’s Caracoles IV. For the sixth edition of the prize, our honorable master judge Gustavo Matamoros selected the winning work Caracoles IV by Jaime Oliver La Rosa. The work will be presented at the Dorsch Gallery in the summer 2020.
