Wolff on Composition at NEC
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 02:57PM Non-Event and the New England Conservatory present Wolff on Composition, a film by AgX member, Ernesto Livon-Grosman. This rare document of composer Christian Wolff (b. 1934) — a key figure in the history of American experimental music — traverses the compositional terrain of the youngest member of the New York School who brought the I Ching to Cage and would develop his own radical take on indeterminacy in music.
Featuring interviews with Wolff as well as fellow experimental musicians and composers Michael Pisaro, Nicolas Collins, Michael Parsons, Robyn Schulkowsky, Amy Beal and Larry Polansky, the film is a contemplative, articulate exploration into the philosophy and politics embedded within Wolff’s composition, illustrated by his beautiful — and often intentionally cryptic — scores, the interpretation of which ensures a collaboration between composer and performer and listener. Attentively conspiring with Wolff’s synergistic, variable art, the film’s own formal experimentation threads landscape as a key narrative element of its spacious cinematography.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 8:00 PM
NEC Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theater
255 St. Botolph St. Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Film at 8 PM followed by a post-screening discussion featuring Christian Wolff, Ernesto Livon-Grosman, Susanna Bolle, Katarina Miljkovic, and Steve Drury
Admission: Free
Writer/Director: Ernesto Livon-Grosman • Director of Photography: Robert Todd • Drone camera: Benjamin Shumlin • Sound: Bill Wirasnik • Editor: Ramiro Antico • Narrator: Susanna Bolle • Experimental film: Douglas Urbank • Original soundscapes: Fernando Kabusacki • Graphic Design: Marto Álvarez
