REFLECTIONS

“The composer plans, music laughs.”

Thus quipped the great American iconoclast Morton Feldman in his collection of essays Give My Regards To Eighth Street. What did Feldman mean by this? That despite their best efforts, composers inevitably have to cede control of their work to the fickle hands of fate? That the instincts of the performers and the cultural contextualizing of the audience might subvert the composer’s specific intentions? Or that perhaps the phenomenological existence of music itself is the rare magic that occurs only in the moment of live performance when the notes written on the score truly come alive in the room?

With these questions circling our heads, Fear No Music presents Reflections: a season in which we not only look forward to the future but honor the past, explore the music around us, and even experience the sounds we create together in community.

As part of our commitment to our community, we begin our season with Looking Around: Locally Sourced Sounds Marathon in which we invite all composers from the region to submit their chamber music scores for a reading by our ensemble. Then we open the doors, turn on the mics, and try to fit as much music as we can into a marathon four-hour long event.

In October we again connect within our musical community to join forces with our good friends, the essential Portland institution Resonance Ensemble, for a special collaboration we call The Sound of Us featuring a unique mix of choral and chamber works by local PNW composers.

In February, we present music-making beyond the traditional stage with Looking Inward, Spacing Out, an exploration of spatial works where the lines between composer, performer and listener are blurred, making way for new insights and sound discoveries.

Finally in April, we celebrate the centennial of Morton Feldman with Looking Back: The Feldman in My Life in which we honor this giant of American modernism with a rare performance of his masterpiece “piano and string quartet.”

At Fear No Music, we believe deeply that the gift of music is meant to be experienced in live performance, in shared spaces, and with our community. With Reflections, we gather and celebrate these gifts together with all who are able to join us.

-Kenji Bunch, FNM artistic director