In February’s Portland Monthly (Oregon), Fiona McCann interviews flutist Claire Chase about her touring Density 2036 project, “a 23-year commitment to envision a new body of work for the flute. Q: Three years ago, you kicked off Density 2036. Tell us about it. It started officially in 2013, but I like to think it started when … I was 13 and my teacher came into a lesson and plopped down these two pieces of music in front of me that comprised Edgard Varèse’s [flute solo] Density 21.5.… 2036 is the 100th anniversary of the piece Density 21.5. So each year I commission an entirely new program. Do you think [new] music needs advocates? I do think we have to mobilize and get people’s attention. Like any new thing, and any fringe movement, we need advocates, we need each other.… There’s so much incredible music being written right now. You’re being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Cleveland Institute of Music this May. What will you tell aspiring young musicians? … I really, really want to encourage and empower them to be themselves…. Was David Bowie trying to be anybody else? He was just committed to being himself, and he did it generously.”
Posted February 22, 2016
