Saturday March 12 * 7pm * MASKS, VAX REQUIRED * TICKETS
STEPHEN NACHMANOVITCH, violins
ELLEN BURR, flutes
A hybrid music/literary event.
Stephen Nachmanovitch will present his new book, THE ART OF IS: Improvising as a Way of Life, and will play a duo improvisation concert with long-time colleague Ellen Burr.
Ellen (Los Angeles) and Stephen (Charlottesville) have from time to time performed together since the 1980s – almost forty years.
Stephen Nachmanovitch is the author of two books on the creative process, The Art of Is (2019) and Free Play (1990). He performs and teaches internationally as an improvisational violinist and at the intersections of performing arts, multimedia, humanities, ecology, and philosophy. Born in 1950, he graduated in 1971 from Harvard and in 1975 from the University of California, where he earned a Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness for an exploration of William Blake. His mentor was the anthropologist and philosopher Gregory Bateson. He has taught and lectured in many countries on creativity and the spiritual and social underpinnings of art. In the 1970s he was a pioneer in free improvisation on violin, viola and electric violin. Over the decades he has released many CDs and visual music videos. He has presented master classes and workshops at many conservatories and universities, and has had numerous appearances on radio, television, and at music and theater festivals. He has collaborated with other artists in media including music, dance, theater, and film, and has developed programs melding art, music, literature, and computer technology. He has published articles in a variety of fields since 1966 and has created computer software including The World Music Menu and Visual Music Tone Painter. He has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism for over 40 years and integrates into his teaching a Zen approach to creativity. Nachmanovitch continues to teach, write, and perform, and ways to extend ideas about the ecology of mind into the 21st century. He lives with his family in Charlottesville, Virginia.
www.freeplay.com
Ellen Burr’s multifaceted musical career has won her praise in performance, improvisation and composition. Jim Santella of Cadence Magazine said, “…creative artists such as Burr, who turn the flute into a tool for exploration, give their audience a wide range of aural experiences.” Ellen has been improvising almost as long as she's been playing and began teaching only two years after starting private lessons. She appears on over thirty CD's and has received worldwide performances of over fifty of her compositions. Her improvisational card game Ink Bops is included in the graphic score anthology Notations 21, ed. By Theresa Sauer, (2009.) Ms. Burr has led several multi-disciplinary improvisation based ensembles combining engineering with dance and music. She currently performs in Andrea Centazzo’s “West Coast Chamber Jazz Trio” as well as the “Present Quartet” (with Anne LeBaron, Jeff Schwartz and Charles Sharp) and the Los Angeles Flute Orchestra. Ms. Burr has as performed as a soloist and clinician at new music festivals and universities across the U.S. as well as in Canada, England and Portugal. She held a year-long position as guest professor of theory and music composition at Wichita State University. Ms. Burr holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from Wichita State University, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Music Composition from California Institute of the Arts, and the Certificat de Stage at the Academie Internationale D’Ete in France (with Jean Pierre Rampal). She was the subject of a feature article, “Teaching Self-Awareness,” (Flute Talk, vol.17, no.2, 1997), and has since contributed articles on teaching to several music magazines. Ms. Burr is a Los Angeles based Yamaha Artist and represented by Price Attractions. www.ellenburr.com
About The Art of Is:
”The Art of Is is a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present. To the author, an improvisation is a co-creation that arises out of listening and mutual attentiveness, out of a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. It is a product of the nervous system, bigger than the brain and bigger than the body; it is a once in a lifetime encounter, unprecedented and unrepeatable. Drawing from the wisdom of the ages, The Art of Is not only gives the reader an inside view of the states of mind that give rise to improvisation, it is also a celebration of the power of the human spirit that, when exercised with love, immense patience and discipline, is an antidote to hate.” — Yo-Yo Ma, cellist
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COVID Policy
In order to attend this event at Rhizome, DC law now requires proof of full vaccination for all audience, staff, and performers.
Accepted forms of proof include:
1. A physical vaccination card that matches the patron's photo ID.
2. A photo of a vaccination card that matches the patron's photo ID.
3. Documentation of medical or religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine AND proof of a negative PCR or antigen test within the last 24 hours.
Masks are required inside the building at all times.
If you feel sick or have had recent exposure to covid, stay home.
BY PURCHASING TICKETS YOU ARE AGREEING TO ABIDE BY THIS POLICY.