AB and Oorstof / Sound in Motion present a tribute to the American composer Maryanne Amacher (1938-2009).

We commence the evening with the screening of Daytrip Maryanne (2004) on the life of this unique artist.

After that, there’s a talk about her work and a live-set of ‘Perceptual Geography’ by Thomas Ankersmit.

Maryanne Amacher is an iconic figure in the experimental music world. She studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and worked together with John Cage, but she is mainly known for her own, entirely unique oeuvre. She was attracted to extremes, from a whispering to a hurricane of sound. Her work transgressed the boundaries between science, music and art. She was a researcher at MIT and her shows varied from Woodstock to the Whitney Museum. In 2005, she received the 'Golden Nica' from Ars Electronica – their highest honour.

Amachar's research into perception, psycho-acoustic phenomena, spatialisation and expanding the role of the listener all formed the basis of Ankersmit's new work. In an age in which apparently everything is consumed via screens and headphones, this is a performance that can only be experienced in the current moment and in actual, physical space.

‘Perceptual Geography’ is a new solo live-project by Thomas Ankersmit for Serge Modular-synthesizer, based upon the ground-breaking research of – and dedicated to – the legendary American sound-artist Maryanne Amacher.

Amacher and Ankersmit first met in New York in 2000 and became friends in her later years. He considers her to be one of his greatest influences. Ankersmit's instrument, the Serge Modular-synthesizer, was developed by Amacher's partner Serge Tcherepnin (who also designed instruments for her)

2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the Amacher's passing. She left behind a unique quantity of music and research that, surprisingly, few artists have taken the time to further develop until now.

There are only a limited number of seats available for this unique evening.

Daytrip Maryanne (2004)
A film by Andrew Kesin
Produced by Andrew Kesin and Thurston Moore
Shot by Jon Bekemeier and Andrew Kesin

Pics:
Ugo Siegfriedt

California College of the Arts