On Friday, January 20, at 3 pm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and WQXR’s Peabody Award-winning podcast, Meet the Composer will present Pauline Oliveros’ work Tuning Meditation, in the Fuentidueña Chapel at The Met Cloisters.
The composer, Pauline Oliveros, who passed away in November 2016 at the age of 84, was a legendary composer and pioneer in the progression of groundbreaking experimental electronic, drone, minimalist, and ambient music. Oliveros created “Deep Listening”—works that challenge the lines between performer, audience, and composer.
“Pauline Oliveros was the beloved, reigning queen of Downtown experimental music since the 1960s,” said Limor Tomer, General Manager of MetLiveArts. “Her practice of ‘Deep Listening’ influenced many composers from John Cage to, well, everyone. To honor her, we will be staging a special version of her gorgeous structured group vocal improvisation, Tuning Meditation.”
Tuning Meditation (1971) is elegantly simple and forms a bond of community through sound. A stunning and perfectly reflective work, it is a shifting chord-mass incorporating the best intentions of the deep listeners who participate. At The Met Cloisters, this vocal piece will be performed by a selection of the concert’s attendees. Meet the Composer’s host, Nadia Sirota will facilitate the performance and orient the vocalists. It begins with a single pitch and builds as other performers pitch and tune in unison, and contribute new pitches. Oliveros instructs participants to: “Inhale deeply; exhale on the note of your choice; listen to the sounds around you, and match your next note to one of them; on your next breath make a note no one else is making; repeat. Call it listening out loud.”
The performance will be recorded live by WQXR’s online contemporary classical music channel Q2 Music for the next and third season of Meet the Composer, which will be released in the coming months. “Oliveros’ Tuning Meditation is for musicians and non-musicians alike,” said Nadia Sirota, “and the gist of the work is: listen to what is going on around you and find a way to positively contribute.”
This event is free with Museum admission, and advance registration is required. The Fuentidueña Chapel will remain open to the public during the performance.
For tickets and information, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets or call 212-570-3949. Tickets are also available at the Great Hall Box Office, which is open Monday-Saturday, 11 am–3:30 pm
About MetLiveArts
The critically acclaimed performance series at The Metropolitan Museum of Art commissions and presents contemporary performance through the lens of the Museum’s exhibitions and gallery spaces. MetLiveArts invites artists, performers, curators, and thought-leaders to create groundbreaking new work, including live and digital performances, as well as site-specific durational performances that have been named some of the most “memorable” and “best of” performances in New York City by the New York Times, New Yorker, and Broadway World.
About WQXR
WQXR 105.9 FM, which streams live at www.wqxr.org, is New York City’s only all-classical music station, immersing listeners in the city’s rich musical life. WQXR presents new and landmark classical recordings as well as live concerts from Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, among other venues. WQXR also broadcasts essential destination programs including New York Philharmonic This Week and Young Artists Showcase. For listeners in search of the new, WQXR operates Q2 Music, an online music stream dedicated to contemporary classical composers, cross-genre adventures, and performances from New York City's edgier venues. Operavore is WQXR’s opera site featuring news, interviews, and commentaries from the world of opera, as well as a 24/7 all-opera stream. WQXR.org provides essential playlist information and online listening, as well as original content, host blogs, NYC cultural news, and videos. The station’s free mobile app allows listeners to take WQXR with them wherever they go. As a public radio station, WQXR is supported by the generosity of its members and sponsors, making classical music relevant, accessible and inspiring for listeners in New York City and around the globe.
Credits
This program is offered Free with Museum admission thanks to The Fan Fox & Lesley R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.
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January 19, 2017
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