The Boston-based New England Conservatory and Northeastern University have announced they are co-presenting a symposium and festival devoted to the experimental American composer and instrument-maker Harry Partch (1901-74). The festival, from September 19 to 21, takes place at NEC and Northeastern, with concerts, seminars, and a display of Partch’s handcrafted musical instruments. The festival will open on September 19 with a keynote address by composer, writer, and musicologist Kyle Gann, “Partch On the Road: The Kerouac of Music,” and a media presentation by composer and sound artist Philip Blackburn. Events will also include a musical instrument workshop, a symposium on Partch’s 43-tone scale and writing for instruments, and performances of Partch’s music by the classical guitarist John Schneider—founder of Microfest, a California-based festival of microtonal music—and composer Dean Drummond and his microtonal music ensemble Newband. More details about the Partch festival and symposium are available at http://www.music.edu/harrypartch or http://necmusic.edu/harry-partch-legacy.
Posted September 5, 2012
