#Julius eastman free#

In an ongoing effort to rescue Eastman’s legacy, scrappy recordings have been recovered, cryptic scores reassembled, albums reissued, and performances staged in America and Europe. This seems to have consigned him to oblivion within the oppressive bleach of New York’s 1960s and ‘70s music scene. He was black and gay, and vocal about what it meant to be those things. Whatever the case, all conspired to abbreviate his career, and his life.

Reading about Eastman (1940-1990) now, it’s hard to know where the alienations begotten by his blackness and gayness end, and where those caused by mental illness and addiction begin. By discussing and performing this music, especially the specific pieces Eastman is known to have performed publicly, I hope to illuminate another facet of the erstwhile developing 'Eastmanian performance practice,' adding a broader understanding of his work as Modernist to the common associations of his work with Minimalism, just two of many categorical labels that could be applied to the diverse, fecund landscape of his multivalent creative activities and performative registers.What I was missing out on was the story of Eastman’s decisive importance for the evolution of avant-garde orchestral music – minimalism and postminimalism, for short.

Building upon the ever-growing body of Eastman scholarship, I am interested in thinking through, hearing, and understanding Piano 2 alongside the music of other notable American modernist pianist-composers with whom Eastman either worked closely or whose music he prominently performed, often both. A virtuosic modernist 'sonata' in three movements, the idiosyncratic manuscript score leaves the performer with more questions than answers as to its realization, other than the through-composed pitches and rhythms. His last known piano solo composition Piano 2 (1986) was composed during his near-decade of living homeless, and it is an unusual addition to his sporadic compositional oeuvre.

#Julius eastman free#

He graduated from the Curtis Institute with a composition degree, studied and worked as a Creative Associate fellow at the SUNY-Buffalo CCPA as a pianist-composer-singer virtuoso, and later had a wide-ranging career based in New York City, moving between the worlds of academic (Uptown) modernism and the eclectic Downtown experimental scene, including minimalism, disco, and free jazz. Zoom Webinar Room late Julius Eastman (1940-1990) grew up in Ithaca where he began his music studies as a singer and pianist. By discussing and performing this music, especially the specific pieces Eastman is known to have performed publicly, I hope to illuminate another facet of the erstwhile developing 'Eastmanian performance practice,' adding a broader understanding of his work as Modernist to the common associations of his work with Minimalism, just two of many categorical labels that could be applied to the diverse, fecund landscape of his multivalent creative activities and performative registers.

'This isn't anything new': Julius Eastman's Piano 2 (1986)-Inspirations, Influences, and InterpretationsThe late Julius Eastman (1940-1990) grew up in Ithaca where he began his music studies as a singer and pianist. 20211112T1700 20211112T1750 America/Chicago 'This isn't anything new': Julius Eastman’s Piano 2 (1986)-Inspirations, Influences, and Interpretations