January 2025
Friday Activations: Conlon Nancarrow Compositions
In conjunction with the current exhibition "Impossible Music," Tufts University Art Galleries is presenting a series of four player piano sessions featuring the boundary-defying work of composer Conlon Nancarrow. Nancarrow was one of the first composers to work with “auto-playing” musical instruments, particularly the player piano, because of its ability to perform scores that exceeded human ability. Nancarrow’s early work was characterized by its extreme technical demands, only rarely performed to his satisfaction. He turned to machines as a means…
Find out more »February 2025
Impossible Music: Playing the Imaginary
As part of the ongoing "Impossible Music" exhibition at Tufts University Art Galleries, the Tufts New Music Ensemble — with special guest John McDonald — will perform a selection from Tom Johnson’s "Imaginary Music" series (1974-1975, 1993). Containing a total of 104 scores, these drawings of musical symbols or loose suggestions of notes promote non-linear interpretations, and Johnson used them as tools to imagine new musical possibilities. Free and open to the public with no tickets required. On view until April…
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