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Fun, bold and unpredictable, Whitney Live showcases an eclectic variety of cutting-edge performers.

Whitney Live is free with Museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays from 6-9 pm. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted. All shows start at 7 pm.

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Upcoming Performances

 

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Past Performances

 

Times New Viking & Acme  

June 27
Times New Viking & ACME

Times New Viking is a Columbus, Ohio-based trio who play punk-infused indie-rock with messy boy-girl vocals and a lo-fi sound. ACME performs Jefferson Friedman's third string quartet which juxtaposes aggressive post-punk influences with delicate harmonic and melodic textures.
myspace.com/timesnewviking



Top photo: Times New Viking. Bottom photo: ACME members, L-R, Gilad Harel, clarinet; Clarice Jensen, cello and artistic director; Eric Huebner, piano; Miranda Cuckson, violin; Chris Thompson, percussion; Alex Sopp, flute; Nadia Sirota, viola; Caleb Burhans, violin
Credit: Liz Linder

     
Prefuse 73  

June 20
Prefuse 73 & ACME

Legendary glitch-hop maven Scott Herren, best known as Prefuse 73, boasts a beat-centric, genre-splicing style. ACME performs Chen Yi's Sound of Five and Kevin Volans’s She Who Sleeps.
prefuse73.com


Top photo: Prefuse 73.
Bottom photo: ACME members, L-R, Gilad Harel, clarinet; Clarice Jensen, cello and artistic director; Eric Huebner, piano; Miranda Cuckson, violin; Chris Thompson, percussion; Alex Sopp, flute; Nadia Sirota, viola; Caleb Burhans, violin
Credit: Liz Linder

     
 

June 13
A Sunny Day in Glasgow & ACME

Philadelphia brother/sisters combo A Sunny Day in Glasgow adds lush female vocals to dance-worthy rhythms, making surreal, dreamy pop music. ACME performs Ingram Marshall's Entrada and John Adams's Shaker Loops.
asunnydayinglasgow.com

 

Top photo: A Sunny Day in Glasgow.
Bottom photo: ACME members, L-R, Gilad Harel, clarinet; Clarice Jensen, cello and artistic director; Eric Huebner, piano; Miranda Cuckson, violin; Chris Thompson, percussion; Alex Sopp, flute; Nadia Sirota, viola; Caleb Burhans, violin
Credit: Liz Linder

     
Berg Sans Nipple  

June 6
The Berg Sans Nipple & ACME

Franco-American duo The Berg Sans Nipple are Lori Sean Berg and Shane Aspegren. Weaving electronica, layers of feedback, and pop melodies, they create a cohesive, beautifully bizarre collage. ACME performs selections from Kevin Volans's White Man Sleeps and John Adams's Book of Alleged Dances.
bergsansnipple.com

 

Top photo: The Berg Sans Nipple.Bottom photo: ACME members, L-R, Gilad Harel, clarinet; Clarice Jensen, cello and artistic director; Eric Huebner, piano; Miranda Cuckson, violin; Chris Thompson, percussion; Alex Sopp, flute; Nadia Sirota, viola; Caleb Burhans, violin
Credit: Liz Linder

     
 

May 23
Matthew Brannon and Lucky Dragons

Launch of Brannon's album the last page in a very long novel, 2008, recorded live at night in the Park Avenue Armory during the course of the Biennial programming. Proceeds from album sales will benefit the Women’s Shelter at Park Avenue Armory. Following the launch, the Lucky Dragons host a dance show set to a soundtrack of autotuned singing voices. Top photo: Matthew Brannon, Bad Manners, 2008. Letterpress print on paper, 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York, and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Bottom photo: Lucky Dragons, Desert Walkers, 2006- . Performance, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, October 21, 2006 . Photograph by Claire Evans.

   

 

 

 

April 18
DJ Olive and Marina Rosenfeld

A live set that takes Olive's Vinyl Scores (original compositions on vinyl intended to be interpreted by other turntablists) and Rosenfeld's 'custom dub plates' (original compositions and sonic elements on one-off acetate records) as the generative basis for a collaborative, improvised sonic environment. Top photo: DJ Olive. Performance, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, Vermont, March 18, 2007. Courtesy Oxingale Records. Photograph by Jaimé Campbell Morton. Bottom photo: Marina Rosenfeld. Rehearsal for Teenage Lontano, 2008. Drill Hall, Park Avenue Armory, New York, February 2008.

 

   

 

 

 

April 4
Kembra Pfahler / Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black performs an acoustic musical set and a seminar based on their new art movement "Beautalism."

Photo: Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Performance, 2008 Whitney Biennial at Park Avenue Armory, March 14, 2008. Photograph by James Ewing.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

February 29
Composers' Showcase: Tristan Perich

Artist, inventor, and composer Tristan Perich holds degrees in music,
math, and computer science. Inspired by the aesthetics of these
disciplines, Perich works with simple forms and complex systems to
compose works for solo instruments, small ensembles and orchestras. His
"1-Bit Music" project, consisting of hand-built electronics packaged
inside a standard CD jewel case, probes the foundations of electronic
sound.

In this performance, Perich presents a program of his compositions for
chamber ensemble with raw 1-bit electronic accompaniment (including
"Active Field", for 10 violins and 10-channel electronics). Perich's
work has been played by courageous contemporary music ensembles
including Bang on a Can, Calder Quartet, counter)induction, New York
Miniaturist Ensemble, Due East, Y Trio and Ensemble Pamplemousse at
venues including P.S.1 and Mass MoCA.

tristanperich.com 1bitmusic.com

   

 

 

 

February 22
So Percussion and Kneebody

This performance features a collaboration between the genre-bending ensembles So Percussion and Kneebody.

Effortlessly blending the improvisational skill of jazz with the swagger of hip hop and the conviction of rock, Kneebody has created a cohesive voice that is at once singular and familiar. Their organic, postmodern instrumental music imparts "an epic, trans-generational gravity," as one L.A. critic wrote. Kneebody's members are Adam Benjamin, Shane Endsley, Kaveh Rastegar, Ben Wendel, and Nate Wood.

So Percussion creates new visual and aural experiences by pulling percussion instruments out of their usual contexts. The group’s educational initiatives have resulted in residencies with composition departments at Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia University, and their collaborations include a project with the electronica duo Matmos (a portion of which was presented as part of Whitney Live in May 2006). Recently, they’ve been featured at Carnegie Hall, the Bang on a Can Marathon and on WNYC’s New Sounds and Soundcheck. So Percussion’s members are Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Lawson White.
Top photo: Kneebody, 2007. Photograph Courtesy of Nick Perzick. Bottom photo: So Percussion, 2006. Photograph Courtesy of Ian Fry. sopercussion.com kneebody.com

   

 

 

 

February 15
Composers' Showcase: Nick Didkovsky

Composer, guitarist, and computer programmer Nick Didkovsky joins the furious energy of rock with intricate composition. His unique fingerprint is his non-didactic approach to combining human and machine creativity, pushing the boundaries of rock, algorithmic composition, and contemporary classical systems. In this performance, Didkovsky presents a portrait of his ongoing work in collaboration with ensembles including Sirius String Quartet, Bone, and Doctor Nerve.

Nick Didkovsky, 2007. Photograph Courtesy of Scott Friedlander.

   

 

 

 

February 8
Dan Deacon

A high-energy electro-acoustic composer, Dan Deacon performs with Casio keyboard, computer, vocoder, signal generator, and other devices to process his voice and compositions. Influenced by Devo, Talking Heads and Scratch Orchestra, among others, his music takes experimental composition and electronic music off of the esoteric intellectual shelf, making it less formal and more fun.

Check out Pictures from the show:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/02/dan_deacon_the.html

myspace.com/dandeacon

Dan Deacon, 2006.
     


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Praise for Whitney Live

"What Was Added, and What was Taken Away" - Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times Dance Review


Funding for Whitney Live is provided by the Whitney Live Producers.

Photograph of Tristan Perich by Amani Willett, 2007.

 

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