About the series

Jack Straw Productions and WCF present a series of talks and performances of new music. The series is free to the public. Refreshments are served. Events are wheelchair and special needs accessible. Contact Jack Straw for arrangements at (206) 634-0919.

 

Begun in 1999, the series has offered over 120 free presentations of visiting and local composers and performers to the public.

 

2008 presenters

January 9 - Gust Burns

February 13 - Hope Wechkin

March 12 - Dennis Rea

April 9 - Anna Homler

May 14 - Bill Smith

June 11 - Tom Baker

July 9 - Tom Varner

August 13 - Bruce Hamilton

September 10 - Joshua Kohl

October 8 - Michael Owcharuk

November 12 - Sean Osborn

December 10 - Richard Johnson

 

past presenters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming

Randal Bays

 

RANDAL BAYS

Respecting the Envelope: Composing New Music in the Irish Tradition

 

Wed., Feb. 11 @ 7:30pm Jack Straw Productions 4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle FREE

 

Randal is the composer of a number of noted recent tunes that have been absorbed into the communal repertoire shared by Irish traditional musicians around the world. He'll discuss how that process works for him and will perform examples of recent compositions. The talk will explore the values behind the musical choices made by members of the traditional music community: adherence or loyalty to the inherited past, versus the need to make new music for new times.

 

Randal Bays is an American musician deeply involved in the world of Irish traditional music for over 30 years. He played various instruments starting at age 8, was involved in band and orchestra through his school years then majored in music theory and composition at Indiana State University.

 

 

 

 

 

Composer Spotlight

Richard Johnson

EMILY DOOLITTLE

Animal Songs

Wed., Jan. 14 @ 7:30pm
Jack Straw Productions
4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle map FREE

 

For the past 10 years, Emily Doolittle has explored the relationship between bird and other animal songs both through scholarly research and her own compositions. She is interested in the question of whether we can consider some animal songs to be "music" in the same sense as human music, and in the ways humans in a variety of cultures and time periods have used animal songs in their music. Doolittle will discuss her research, as well as present several compositions inspired by animal songs and other sounds from the natural world.

 

Composer Emily Doolittle was born in Nova Scotia in 1972 and educated at Dalhousie University (B.M., 1995), the Koninklijk Conservatorium in the Hague (Eerste Fase, 1998), Indiana University (M.M., 1999) and Princeton (Ph.D., 2007). In 2008 she moved to Seattle, where she is assistant professor of composition at Cornish College of the Arts. She has written for Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Albany Symphony, Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, the Motion Ensemble and Meduse, and soloists including sopranos Janice Jackson, Patricia Green and Helen Pridmore, pianists Rachel Iwaasa and Ruth Rose, viola d'amorist Thomas Georgi and viola da gambist Karin Preslmayr. Her doctoral research was on the relationship between bird and other animal songs and human music, a field in which she continues to be active. Other interests include the traditional music of various cultures, community music-making, and music as a vehicle for social change. Further information on Doolittle's music can be found on her website, www.emilydoolittle.com.

 

Supporters

Jack Straw ProductionsJack Straw Productions gratefully acknowledges The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture King County Lodging Tax Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, PONCHO, ArtsFund, Seattle Foundation, and individual contributors for their support of Jack Straw Artist Programs.