Saturday April 25 | doors at 7:30pm | performance at 8:00pm
$20 ADVANCE tickets | $25 DAY OF SHOW | $10 STUDENT tickets with ID | pay what you can
Jonathan Piper interrogates the relationship - and division - between body and instrument. The tuba is deconstructed, bodily process is amplified, and the division of organs and machines is blurred.
I learned to play the tuba by hiding my body - literally behind 30 pounds of brass machine, and figuratively under beautiful tone. In this residency, I pursue threads of expression that have been working their way through my recent practice: an emphasis on internal process and difficulty, the pursuit of duration and endurance, and a conceptual approach to the instrument as a mechanism to be taken apart and modified. The performance will incorporate electronics and extensions, as well as some (hopefully) beautiful tone, as it navigates the boundaries between organs and machines.
Jonathan Piper
Jonathan Piper is a tubist specializing in experimental and improvisational idioms. As a performer, he explores the outer limits of his instrument, which he takes to include both the tuba and his body. He employs elements of drone, doom, noise, free jazz, and more, supported by extended techniques including circular breathing, multiphonics, and the use of non-traditional mouthpieces and instrument modifications. He has presented work at High Desert Soundings, Project [BLANK]'s Working Title, Drone Not Drones, and more, and has given talks about his approach to the tuba at CalArts, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC Irvine. Jonathan received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego with his dissertation titled Locating Experiential Richness in Doom Metal.