USA: Yvonne Rainer’s “Remembering And Dismembering Trio A” With Brittany Bailey / David Behrman’s “Open Space With Brass” With Ed Bear & Ensemble

ISSUE & The Clemente present an evening of pioneering work from choreographer and filmmaker Yvonne Rainer and composer David Behrman. Highlighting the artists’ work interpreted and presented by a new generation of artists, the evening features choreographer and performer Brittany Bailey performing Remembering and Dismembering Trio A (1966 – 2020), with excerpts from Peter Schjeldahl’s “77 Sunset Me.”

The program also features David Behrman’s Open Space with Brass, performed by Ed Bear and an ensemble under the direction of Chris McIntyre. The piece was originally commissioned for the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (performed with TILT Brass) at the Park Avenue Armory in December, 2011.

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David Behrman’s Open Space with Brass follows in the tradition of electroacoustic sound supported throughout the history of Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The piece also refers to the antiphonal music that Giovanni Gabrieli created for the Basilica di San Marco in Venice at the turn of the 17th Century. Gabrieli’s work made such specific use of the cathedral’s acoustics that groups of brass instruments situated in opposing choir lofts could be heard with clarity at distant points. Interactive music software, originally made for the site-specific 15-channel sound system that was in use at the Park Avenue Armory, linked the acoustic and electronic elements of Open Space: a 6-piece ensemble of trumpets and trombones filling the enormous Armory Drill Hall space with live and digitally processed sound. Behrman has recently reorganized elements of this software to be more accessible for other musicians to play. Ed Bear, who returns to ISSUE after an ambitious re-staging of John Cage’s Variations VII in 2016, manipulates the software, while trombonist Chris McIntyre leads an ensemble of cello (Aliya Ultan), bass clarinet (Madison Greenstone), and trumpet (Alexandria Smith).

The evening will conclude with a Q&A with Yvonne Rainer & David Behrman moderated by Chris McIntyre. They will discuss the history, transition, and legacy of their work as well as the process of teaching, learning, and presenting the pieces.