the New Dischord (April 2010)
The COUNTERPOINT concert series in Chattanooga is still trucking along as a nice, intimate chamber series with moderate-to-left-leaning programming on a tight budget. However, one of the best developments that has come out of this series is the organization of many of the local musicians who have played in the series over its first two years. We have been continually talking amongst ourselves about the idea of forming a larger ensemble that would play new music and present concerts in innovative settings. Thus, the New Dischord is born...
New Dischord is a music organization proposing radical and sweeping reforms to the traditional model for a "classical" music ensemble. Comprised of ten young and energetic local musicians, the members of New Dischord are planning concerts of new music that are engaging, eclectic, and sometimes challenging. By throwing away many of the traditions of concert etiquette and "classical" programming models, and by playing in unconventional spaces, such as warehouses or outdoor venues, New Dischord hopes to attract a young, hip audience that might never set foot in a symphony concert hall. The ensemble is also planning several concerts that utilize the talents of local artists in multimedia collaborations. Their idea is to present concerts that are always different and surprising. The members of New Dischord are highly classically trained musicians (some are professors at UTC, others have just returned to Chattanooga from studies abroad or graduate school). What the musicians have in common is a passion for playing new and experimental music that most audiences would never hear.
a new concert experience
We envision a new concert experience in which the audience is brought face to face with new music combined with stimulating visual elements. We aim to replace the pageantry and decadence of nineteenth-century concert traditions that have fated serious concert music to extinction. Dress codes and traditional programming formulas will be replaced with a relaxed decorum that that puts the focus back on the music itself. The pageantry of curtseys and curtain-calls will be replaced by thoughtful programming of the most innovative and exciting new compositions by the most creative minds in current music. Repetitious productions of the Classical "masterworks" will be replaced by new musical productions that challenge audiences to experience music in new ways. When walking into a New Dischord concert, you may be handed an art print instead of a program. You may hear a brass ensemble accompanied by DJ instead of a Romantic Symphony. Instead of staring at a conductor's back for ninety minutes, you may be able to watch a live painter at work.
a community project
One of the most important goals of the New Dischord project is to integrate a serious music ensemble into a small town as an influential member of the community's creative growth. Introducing a small town to the most fertile creative and musical minds is most important at the community's formative years. This, along with the thriving art community already in place, will set the tone for Chattanooga's future leadership in art and culture throughout the region. By setting the artistic bar very high, we attract even more of the most creative people to Chattanooga as well as create the audience that will demand their greatest artistic output. Furthermore, New Dischord intends to be active in a broad range of artistic endeavors by collaborating with local visual artists, dancers, writers, and filmmakers at every performance.
short-term goals
New Dischord as a performing ensemble, will be launched in June of 2010 with a short music festival presented to the Chattanooga community. The goals of this festival are the same as those of New Dischord as an organization:
o To provide the musicians of New Dischord with a venue to present some of the most exciting new musical compositions from around the world.
o To provide the community with events that bring citizens in close contact with local artists and musicians.
o To create immediate collaborations between musicians and visual artists, and strengthen the network of Chattanooga's greatest creative and artistic minds.
In the interest of achieving these goals, the festival will consist of performances by New Dischord in collaborations with local artists, dancers, filmmakers, chefs, and writers. These concerts will be presented to the Chattanooga community free of charge. The individual events will all take place in various locations on East Main Street giving the festival a very community-based cohesion.
long-term goals
Over the coming years, New Dischord plans to make its home in Chattanooga's Southside, helping to strengthen the growing art community on Main Street. This will fill the void that exists in the art renaissance of South Chattanooga for a progressive and proactive musical organization. In coming years, New Dischord plans to present an expanded concert season that will eventually consist of six to eight concerts per year. These will continue to take place in unusual locations such as warehouses, art studios, museums, and outdoor venues.
"PLAINSPEAK" ...the Roche/Hinck LP (July 2009)
With the COUNTERPOINT concert series having ended in may, I've been putting all my energy into the recording with Aaron Roche. This is really the culmination of years of saying, "we should really collaborate on a big project!" So finally it is happening. This is our full-length LP of "classical-indie-folk" but before you walk off shaking your head in skepticism let me just reassure you that this will be no "light-classical" pursuit, nor will it be some hipster frivolity. The feedback we've gotten so far has been really positive, and I really feel that this is something that will be completely fresh and engaging to a broad audience. Among the cuts that are nearing completion are a Baroque-inspired fugue with text by my wonderful poet-friend Lynn Powell; also a crazy fantasia of bowed-electric guitar! Release is expected in Summer of 2010.
