La Crosse New Music Festival

Workshop: Scent & Sound

An Interactive, Multisensory Workshop
November 7, 4-5 p.m. | Annett Recital Hall, Lowe Center for the Arts

Mary Ellen Child, whose work will be on display in the UWL Art Gallery from October 28 - November 17, presents an interactive workshop illuminating her creative work with the intersectionality of music and scents. Additional details forthcoming. No reservations required. Free and open to the public. This project is funded in part by a grant from the City of La Crosse Arts Board. 

Full details here.

Concert: "ORIGIN"

November 7, 7:30 p.m. | Annett Recital Hall, Lowe Center for the Arts

The first of the four concerts that make up this year’s festival, “ORIGIN,” features members of UWL’s Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra with director Martin Gaines playing Arbos by Arvo Pärt and Terry Riley’s In C .

In C is a carefully structured improvised work that frequently takes an indeterminate time to perform. As a result, every ensemble that takes it on brings a different sound and sensibility to how to realize the piece.

Full details here.

Presentation: Julius Eastman

November 8 at 2:15 p.m. | Annett Recital Hall, Lowe Center for the Arts

This year’s festival features a public presentation on the life and legacy of the composer Julius Eastman, who was a gay Black composer who was a significant figure in New York and London in the 1970s and 80s but died impoverished in the late 1980s and whose work was nearly lost. The presentation will discuss specific aspects of Mr. Eastman’s life, as well as how race and sexual identity intersected with politics and political action during that era.

Concert: "SPECTRUM"

November 8, 7:30 p.m. | Annett Recital Hall, Lowe Center for the Arts

“SPECTRUM,” features Julius Eastman’s Stay On It (1973), a structured improvisation that can be performed with varying instrumentation, including a voice repeating the title words. The piece will be performed by featured guests Liz Pearse, JJ Pearse and Amanda DeBoer Bartlett and UWL faculty.

Full details here.

Concert: "TIME"

November 8, 9 p.m. | Cappella Performing Arts Center

The second concert on Friday shifts from UWL campus to Cappella Center for the Performing Arts. “TIME,” the third concert begins at 9 p.m. and features guest vocal ensemble Quince, performing Morton Feldman’s Three Voices (1982). Feldman’s work was first premiered by one voice singing with two pre-recorded tracks of the same singer’s voice.

Friday night’s concert elevates the performance by having all three parts sung by live singers. The piece explores themes of loss the persistence of memory, and many who have heard it report an altered perception of time during the performance. A cash bar will be available for patrons.

Full details here.

Concert: "SPACE"

November 9, 6 p.m. | Hetzel Field House, UWL Campus

The final concert of the festival begins at 6 p.m. Saturday November 9. “SPACE” will be presented at the Hetzel Field House, 6 p.m. “SPACE” showcases UWL Student musicians and students from area high schools in a performance of John Luther Adams’ immersive percussion piece Inuksuit (2009). Scored for 9 to 99 percussion players who are meant to be widely dispersed in an outdoor area, the piece will be coached and lead by guest artist JJ Pearse.

Full details here.