The M6

We’re gearing up for next week’s performance at The Stone, the East Village performance space established by John Zorn.  Our concert is part of a series titled Sing Theory curated by David Garland, who says, ”The emphasis of my programming at The Stone during the last weeks of 2009 is on musicians who subtly, insistingly, and creatively expand the potential of song. By investing songs with both heart and brain, and by tapping into the alchemy of the understandable and the mysterious, these daring songwriters prove that the ancient combination of words and music can still yield surprises, open new vistas, and permit and promote profound communication.” Read more of what he has to say about the series on the WQXR blog.

Come on by Tuesday night, December 22, at 10pm!  You know you’ll need a break from “Santa Baby” by then.

Sing Theory
22 concerts at The Stone, December 16th through 29th, 2009

The M6 will be performing Tuesday, December 22 at 10pm, singing Dolmen Music by Meredith Monk, as well as selections from Monk’s Book of Days, ATLAS, Volcano Songs, Facing North and American Archeology #1. (Detailed program below.)

The Stone - Corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street, NYC (map)
Admission: $10 per set
Students 13 to 19 admitted half price, children 12 and under free
No advance ticket sales, all admissions are at the door prior to each performance

PROGRAM

Book of Days
- Afternoon Melodies
- Jewish Storyteller/Dance/Dream
- Plague
- Eva’s Song

Explorers’ Junctures from ATLAS
Volcano Songs
- Boat Man
- Old Lava
Facing North
- Chinook
- Hocket
Calling #1 from American Archeology #1

Dolmen Music

We’re in rehearsals this week, preparing for the “Songs of Ascension” recording sessions! @Digifiddler Todd Reynolds, taking a break from playing, took this video on the fly of the Montclair State University Singers, conducted by Heather Buchanan. (Astute viewers will spot a couple M6ers scattered about…)

We’re thrilled to be invited by Darmstadt “Classics of the Avant Garde”, the Brooklyn-based contemporary music series led by Zach Layton and Nick Hallett, to perform Dolmen Music at this year’s Essential Repertoire Festival at ISSUE Project Room on December 4. Check out our video of excerpts from Dolmen Music on YouTube.

Info on the full three-concert series here, and details about our performance below.

——

DARMSTADT: “Classics of the Avant Garde”
presents its second annual
ESSENTIAL REPERTOIRE festival

“Yes, we’re prone to hyperbole on occasion, but trust us when we say that Darmstadt’s Essential Repertoire series…is one of the most significant musical presentations of the season” –Time Out New York

Friday, December 4 at 8pm
The M6, Jon Gibson, Phill Niblock

ISSUE Project Room
At the Old American Can Factory
232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn
718-330-0313 [map/directions]

Admission: $20 door, $15 advance
Tickets available at ISSUE Project Room or at Other Music

This year’s festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of the seminal New Music New York concerts curated by Rhys Chatham and held at The Kitchen (then on Mercer Street), which put the still-burgeoning Downtown Scene – at the crossroads of minimalism, interdisciplinary performance, and various strains of post-punk – under a mainstream spotlight and redefined the presentation of experimental music.

DARMSTADT’s cross-section of composers involved in the original festival includes “Blue” Gene Tyranny, Connie Beckley, David van Tieghem, Jill Kroesen, Jon Gibson, Ned Sublette, Peter Gordon, Peter Zummo, Petr Kotik, Phill Niblock, and a performance of Meredith Monk’s Dolmen Music by the M6. The festival will be held from December 3 through 5 at ISSUE Project Room. All concerts begin at 8pm. Tickets will be $20 at the door/$15 advance (.)

Meredith Monk – Dolmen Music (1979); Performed by the M6: Meredith Monk Music Third Generation

Jon Gibson – Criss Cross (1979) and other works; Performed by the composer

Phill Niblock – “Four Arthurs” (1978) superimposed with “Two Octaves and a Fifth” (1975); performed by the composer with Leslie Ross (bassoon) and Christa Robinson (oboe)

If you’ve just heard about The M6: Meredith Monk Music Third Generation via Primal Song, the article about Monk in the November 9 issue of the New Yorker, welcome! In his official New Yorker blog, Unquiet Thoughts, Alex Ross singles out our video of excerpts from Monk’s Dolmen Music, reposted below, as being “particularly striking.”

Members of the M6 joined Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, the Todd Reynolds String Quartet, the Stonewall Chorale and additional singers for a five-night run of Monk’s Songs of Ascension at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 2009 Next Wave Festival. Check out some video from New Yorker music critic Alex Ross’s new blog, Unquiet Thoughts: