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Cornish Pays Tribute to Cage, Cowell and Harrison

Posted Mar 17, 2009

In the spring of 1939, noted American composers John Cage and Lou Harrison presented a series of percussion concerts at the Cornish School in Seattle. By January of the following year the two young composers had embarked upon a Northwest tour – a bold experiment that composer Henry Cowell famously dubbed “Drums Along the Pacific.” Cornish celebrates the seventieth anniversary of these landmark percussion concerts with a special four-day festival devoted to the music of John Cage, Lou Harrison and their mentor Henry Cowell, March 26 – 29.

Through concerts and presentations exploring the range of repertoire and philosophies behind the work of each of the composers, Drums Along the Pacific focuses on the creative work that made Cage, Cowell, and Harrison, American masters in terms of their groundbreaking artistic visions and ideas. Presented in Cornish’s historic PONCHO Concert Hall, the festival showcases performances by the Pacific Rims Percussion Quartet and the Seattle Chamber Players, and will conclude with a special concert featuring Gamelan Pacifica.

Noted guest artists include Boston-based pianist Stephen Drury, whose recordings and performances of the solo piano works of Cowell and Cage have received worldwide accolades, and internationally acclaimed tenor John Duykers, long associated with the music of Lou Harrison. Symposium presentations will be offered by Elena Dubinets, artistic administrator of the Seattle Symphony, Dr. Leta Miller, biographer of Lou Harrison and professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, composer Larry Polansky of Dartmouth College, and Cornish faculty members Jarrad Powell and Matthew Kocmieroski.

To learn more, check out what the Seattle Weekly has to say about Drums Along the Pacific: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-02-18/arts/john-cage-s-pioneering-drumbeats/

The complete festival program and tickets to all events are available at www.cornish.edu/drums.

Drums Along the Pacific
Thursday, March 26, 8pm - Henry Cowell
Friday, March 27, 8pm - Lou Harrison
Saturday, March 28, 1pm – Presentations
Saturday, March 28, 4pm - John Cage (part 1)
Saturday, March 28, 8pm - John Cage (part 2)
Sunday, March 29, 1pm - Presentations
Sunday, March 29, 4pm - Gamelan Pacifica

PONCHO Concert Hall, 710 East Roy Street, Seattle
Tickets: $15 general, $7.50 students, alumni & seniors
Festival Pass: $45 general, $30 students, includes admission to all festival events
Presentations are free and open to the public.

Drums Along the Pacific has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. Additional support for Drums Along the Pacific has been provided by PONCHO, The Boeing Company, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Estate of Henry and Sidney Cowell, and the Seattle Drum School. Media sponsorship has been provided by KUOW 94.9 Public Radio.

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