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Through collaboration with Kronos Quartet, sound artist, composer,
and instrument creator Walter Kitundu will develop a composition/installation
for the instruments of the string quartet and one or more "phonoharps"—beautifully
crafted, multi-stringed phonograph turntables capable of simultaneously
amplifying the tones of vibrating strings through the stylus as well
as the content of a vinyl record. Kitundu’s aim is to “reconnect
the technology of new music to fundamental principals drawn from
elements in the natural world….”
The collaboration will honor American jazz great Charles Mingus
(1922-1979). Kitundu will study the catalogue of recordings
by Charles Mingus and distill samples of several of his compositions
onto an LP vinyl recording, which will be manipulated in live concert
by Kitundu on phonoharps. Simultaneously, Kronos will accompany
Kitundu on the instruments of the string quartet with a specially
transcribed composition based on the Mingus samples. Elements
of the Kronos “version” also will be recorded on an LP
vinyl for Kitundu’s live manipulation during the piece. Thus,
audiences will hear a mix of three versions of a work derived from
Mingus compositions, filtered through Kitundu’s layered compositional
process, and performed live by Kronos and Kitundu.
The collaboration will reflect Kitundu’s and Kronos’s
cultural influences as well as those of Mingus, who drew inspiration
from Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, gospel music,
and Mexican folk music, as well as traditional jazz and 20th Century
concert music. The collaboration also will demonstrate the
range of the turntable as a musical instrument alongside European-based
stringed instruments. Walter Kitundu writes:
Even the instrument building process holds surprises and new avenues,
which may shift the direction of the work. The unifying steady element
of this process is the dedication to imagination it will require
from the participants.
Raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Walter Kitundu is a San Francisco
Bay Area-based musician, instrument building, and artist whose innovative
work has done much to further turntable artistry. He was introduced
to music in 1991 through Chicago hip hop turntablist Alton Heraldon.
Playing the turntable percussively, he found a whole range of sonic
possibilities and soon discovered that a tin can held to a stylus
produced a clear tone rather than a thud. Realizing that the
turntable had potential as a receptive amplifier, he built a family
of instruments called Stylophones—single stringed instruments
that resonate the stylus of the phonograph. In time this led
to the development of a stringed turntable, or Phonoharp, the first
completed in 2001. Kitundu now has fouteen versions of the
Phonoharp, with more on the way.
For more than 30 years, the Kronos
Quartet—David
Harrington and John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey
Zeigler (cello)—has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining
a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the
range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has
become one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our
time. Integral to Kronos’ work is a series of long-running,
in-depth collaborations. Some of the quartet’s most frequent
composer-collaborators are Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Azerbaijan’s
Franghiz Ali Zadeh, Steve Reich, Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov,
and any more. In addition to composers, Kronos has collaborated
with performing artists from around the world.
Walter Kitundu
Raised in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Kitundu began as a visual artist
who was introduced to music through the turntable. He focused
his imagination on discovering the potential of the record player
as a medium for sound and artistic expression. This resulted in hand
built turntables powered by the wind and rain, fire and earthquakes,
birds, light, and the force of ocean waves. He believes that the
physical properties of a record are a natural link to the exploration
and interpretation of the world around us. Kitundu invented a new
instrument family called Phonoharps. These beautifully crafted multi-stringed
instruments are made from record players and rely on the turntable’s
sensitivity to vibration. Kitundu has performed and been in residence
at art centers and science museums internationally. Additionally,
he composes for dance, theatre and film and teaches multi-disciplinary
workshops on sound, imagination and instrument building.
Residencies, Workshops and Events
- Artist Residency Award – Montalvo Art Center, Saratoga,
CA (2006)
- Composer Residency, Austin Texas, (2005) Composed and performed
a score for an evening length theatrical work entitled “The
Book of Daniel” by Alpert Award Recipient playwright Daniel
Alexander Jones.
- Artist Residency, Singapore Science Centre (2005) Developed and
built 3 exhibits for the Centre including a Light Sensitive
PhonoSitar, and Escalator Powered Turntable, and a room sized active
listening exhibit. Performed in Bukit Pangan Shopping Centre.
- Artist Residency, Gunnar Gunnarssonn Institute. Skriduklaustur,
Iceland (2004)
granted a month-long residency by the Studio accommodations in
the Fljotsdalur Valley in Eastern Iceland. Developing environmental
sound installations and conducting field research for the Geologic
Sound Casting Project.
- Commissioned Artist, Designing and building 80 functional, inventive
centerpieces for the prestigious awards ceremony held in San Francisco,
The Exploratorium (2004)
- Residency, Singapore Science Centre, offering creative hands-on
workshops for the visiting youth and Science Centre staff. Developing
an elemental turntable for the museum, giving a lecture demonstration
on Phonoharps and discussing turntable related sound installation.
(2004)
- Guest Artist, Science Museum of Minnesota, Conducting two creative
hands-on workshops for the MyBest team in the Youth Science Centre.
(2004)
- Artist-in-residence, The Exploratorium, San Francisco, California
(2003-ongoing)
- Music commission, Kronos Quartet (2003)
- Created and installed Mutato Nomine de te Fabula Naratur, a month-long
site-specific work which invited a population of urban pigeons
to take shelter inside an enclosure and used their weight to trigger
sound installations and turntables in the gallery, Luggage Store
Gallery, San Francisco, California. (2002)
Selected Performances
- “Surreal Calder” SFMOMA (2006) Musical Artist for
the opening of the Alexander Calder exhibition at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art
- “Homemade Instrument Day” Guest Artist, Lincoln Center
Outdoors, New York (2005) Performed on a Galvanic Skin Response
Turntable Harp
- “Weather Weekend” Guest Artist at Wave Hill Gardens
in New York City. Performed on elemental turntables for Weather
Weekend
- "Songlines Series,” Lecture demonstration and discussion,
Mills College, Oakland, California (2004)
- “Creative Music Thursdays,” improvised duet with
Alexander Kort (electric cello), Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco
(2004)
- “Douglas Ewart and Friends,” performance with Douglas
Ewart (reeds, flutes, percussion), Kash Killion (Cello), Kitundu
(invented instruments), and David Wessel (electronics), CNMAT,
University of California, Berkeley, California (2003)
- “San Francisco Electronic Music Festival,” solo performance
showcasing two newly built Phonoharps. Guest appearance by
trumpeter Danny Cao, SOMARTS, San Francisco, California (2003)
- "Evidence of Silence Broken," Composed and performed
a live score for this Spoken Word evening length play written by
Zell Miller III (Austin, TX). Reviews available at www.kitundu.com,
Pillsbury House Theatre, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2003)
- “Douglas Ewart and Friends,” A quartet performance
with Douglas Ewart (reeds, flutes, percussion), Miya Masaoka (Koto),
and David Wessel (electronics), CNMAT, University of California,
Berkeley, California (2002)
- "Defining Ground," Created a live score for a thirty
minute improvised dance work featuring Joanna Haigood, Sara Shelton
Mann, and Mercy Sidbury, with set design by Wayne Campbell, Cowell
Theatre, San Francisco, California (2002)
- "Blacksmith/Weaver," composition and live scoring collaboration
with choreographer Sara Mann, St. Marks Church, New York, New York
(2002)
- "Reverberation," a site-specific collaboration with
Butoh artist Ledoh and his company Salt Farm, Headlands Center
for the Arts, Sausalito, California (2002)
- "Phonosynthesis II," part of the Exploratorium's 2nd
Wednesdays Series. The evening (called "self-propelled")
featured artists whose work engages artistic and scientific principles.
It was the first exhibition of the human powered turntable and
15 stringed Phonoharp. It also showcased water, fire and wind powered
turntables. The Exploratorium, San Francisco, California (2001)
- "Re:sound Music Gallery," produced a concert featuring
elemental turntables, stylophones and the newly developed Phonoharp.
Collaborated with David Boyce (bass clarinet), Melissa Dougherty
(voice), Tan Khanh Cao (sonic canvas), Q.R. Hand (poetry), Southern
Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California (2001)
- "Phonosynthesis," discussion and workshop on the evolution
of the turntable as part of a museum-wide exhibition on the history
of hip hop, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California
(2001)
- "Sunday Afternoon Special," a trio performance with
Douglas Ewart (reeds, flutes, percussion), and Miya Masaoka (Koto)
at the Center for New Music And Audio Technology, Berkeley, California
(2001)
- "Underground Jazz Cabaret," performed a duets with
Miya Masaoka (koto) and played collectively with India Cooke (violin),
Rhodessa Jones (voice), Idris Ackamoor (saxophone), and Famadou
Don Moye (percussion) of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Lorraine
Hansberry Theatre, San Francisco, California (2001)
- "Music is the Game," played with Douglas Ewart (reeds,
flute, percussion), James Newton (flute), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet)
and members of the Mills College Basketball team, Mills College,
Oakland, California (2000)
Kronos Quartet has become one of the most celebrated and influential
ensembles of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide,
releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity,
collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and
performers, and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements
for string quartet. Kronos' work has also garnered numerous awards,
including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians
of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.
Kronos' adventurous
approach dates back to the ensemble's origins. In 1973, David Harrington
was inspired to form Kronos after hearing George Crumb's Black
Angels, a highly unorthodox, Vietnam
War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages,
and electronic effects. Kronos then went on to start to build a compellingly
eclectic repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording
works by 20th-century masters (Bartok, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary
composers (Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Part, Alfred Schnittke), jazz
legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk), and artists
from even farther afield (rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Pakistani
vocal master Pandit Pran Nath, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).
Integral to Kronos' work is a series of long-running, in-depth
collaborations with many of the world's foremost composers. One
of the quartet's most frequent composer-collaborators is "Father
of Minimalism" Terry
Riley, whose work with Kronos includes the early Sunrise of the Planetary
Dream Collector; Cadenza on the Night Plain and Salome
Dances for Peace; 2002's Sun Rings, a multimedia,
NASA-commissioned ode to the earth and its people, featuring celestial
sounds and images gathered by the space agency; and, most recently, The
Cusp of Magic, commissioned for Kronos in honor of Riley's
70th birthday celebrations and premiered by Kronos and Chinese
pipa virtuoso Wu Man in 2005. Kronos has also collaborated extensively
with composers such as Philip Glass, recording his complete string
quartets and scores to films like Mishima and Dracula (a
restored edition of the Bela Lugosi classic); Azerbaijan's Franghiz
Ali Zadeh, whose works are featured on the full-length 2005 Kronos
release Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali Zadeh; Steve Reich,
whose Kronos-recorded Different
Trains earned a Grammy; Argentina's Osvaldo Golijov, a MacArthur
Fellow whose work with Kronos includes both compositions and extensive
arrangements for albums like Caravan and Nuevo;
and many more.
In addition to composers, Kronos counts many artists
from around the world among its regular collaborators, including
the legendary Bollywood "playback singer" Asha Bhosle,
featured on Kronos' Grammy-nominated CD, You've Stolen My Heart:
Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood; the renowned American
soprano Dawn Upshaw; Mexican pop-rockers Cafe Tacuba; the Romanian
gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks; and the unbridled British cabaret
trio, the Tiger Lillies. Kronos has performed live with the likes
of icons Allen Ginsberg, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, Betty
Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such
diverse talents as singer-songwriters Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado,
Rokia Traore, Joan Armatrading, and Texas yodeler Don Walser.
Kronos'
music has also featured prominently in other media, including film
(Requiem for a Dream, 21 Grams, Heat, True Stories)
and dance, with noted choreographers like Merce Cunningham, Twyla
Tharp, and the duo Eiko & Koma setting pieces to Kronos' music.
The Quartet spends five months of each year on tour, appearing in
concert halls, clubs, and festivals around the world including BAM
Next Wave Festival, Barbican in London, UCLA's Royce Hall, Amsterdam's
Concertgebouw, and the Sydney Opera House. Kronos is equally prolific
and wide-ranging on disc. The ensemble's expansive discography on
Nonesuch Records includes collections like Pieces of Africa (1992),
a showcase of African-born composers that simultaneously topped Billboard's
Classical and World Music lists; 2000's Kronos Caravan,
whose musical "travels" span North and South America, Europe,
and the Middle East; 1998's ten-disc anthology, Kronos Quartet:
25 Years; a celebration of Mexican culture, the Grammy- and
Latin Grammy-nominated Nuevo (2002); and the 2003 Grammy-winner—Berg’s Lyric
Suite.
Kronos' recorded work reveals only a fraction of the group's commitment
to new music, however. As a non-profit organization based in San
Francisco, the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association
has commissioned more than 450 new works and arrangements for string
quartet. One of Kronos' most exciting initiatives in this area is
the "Kronos:
Under 30 Project," a unique commissioning and composer-in-residence
program for composers under 30 years old, launched in conjunction
with Kronos' own 30th birthday in 2003. By cultivating creative relationships
with such emerging talents and a wealth of other artists from around
the world, Kronos reaps the benefit of 30 years' wisdom while maintaining
an approach to music making as fresh as the new century.
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