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#Julius eastman professional#
Many of the earliest performances of Eastman's works were given by the Creative Associates ensemble of University at Buffalo, of which he was a member from 1968.Ī 1980 piece for Eastman's voice and cello ensemble, “The Holy Presence of Jeanne d'Arc”, was performed at The Kitchen in New York City, and in 1986 choreographer Molissa Fenley used his work “Thruway “for a dance, “Geologic Moments”, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.Īlso a vocalist, he recorded with Meredith Monk's ensemble for her influential album Dolmen Music (1981).ĭespondent about what he saw as a dearth of professional possibilities worthy of him, Eastman grew increasingly dependent on alcohol and crack after 1983, and let his life fall apart. From 1971 he performed and toured with the group, and composed numerous works for it. Eastman was a founding member of the S.E.M. Eastman and Kotik performed together extensively in the early to mid 1970s. In 1970, Eastman joined the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo, where he met the Czech-born composer, conductor, and flutist Petr Kotik. Eastman's “Stay On It” from 1973 was an influential post minimalist piece that incorporated pop music influences. The last of these appropriates Martin Luther's hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" as a gay manifesto. Eastman's talents brought him to the attention of composer-conductor Lukas Foss, who conducted his music with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.Įastman's music was often written according to what he considered an "organic" principle by which each new section of a work contained all the information from previous sections, though sometimes "the information is taken out at a gradual and logical rate." The principle is most evident in his three works for four pianos, ”Evil Nigger”, “Crazy Nigger”, and “Gay Guerrilla”, all from around 1979. The latter became famous owing to his 1973 Nonesuch recording of “Eight Songs for a Mad King” by the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies. He was also possessed of a rich, deep, and extremely flexible singing voice. He began college at Ithaca College and transferred to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano with Mieczyslaw Horszowski and composition with Constant Vauclain.He made his debut as a pianist in 1966 at Town Hall in New York City. Eastman grew up in Ithaca, New York, where he began studying piano at age 14 and made rapid progress. Julius Eastman’s music is in search of a form, alighting toward a future that could grant him dignity.Julius Eastman (1940–1990) was an African-American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer. Guardian music September 14, ahem /6LESY5nm6V Julius Eastman: the groundbreaking composer America almost forgot
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Julius Eastman’s Femenine is named Best New Music. The Minimalist composer Julius Eastman died in 1990, but a new recording gives him his due. Untitled (Julius Eastman), c.1980.ĬD SOLD OUT AT SOURCE. Recorded live on Wednesday, Novemat Composers Forum in Albany, The Arts Center on the Campus of the Academy of the Holy Names, Albany, New York.Ĭover: Andrew Roth. should we say euphoria?’” –Mary Jane Leach “ Eastman’s stated aim with Femenine was to please listeners, saying of the piece that ‘the end sounds like the angels opening up heaven. Recorded by Steve Cellum – co-producer of Arthur Russell’s World of Echo – and mastered by Denis Blackham. Illuminating sleeve notes are provided by composer and author Mary Jane Leach, who is co-editor of Gay Guerrilla, the recently released collection of essays on Eastman’s life and music. Joyous, insistent, and immersive, Femenine bathes the listener in surges of tonal colour from intertwining winds, piano, violin, pitched percussion, synthesizer and – uniquely – the composer’s own invention of mechanised sleigh bells, which provide the 72-minute piece with its characteristic pulse. Known best in the past for his work with figures like Peter Maxwell Davies, Arthur Russell and Meredith Monk, today his own formidable compositions draw increasing admiration.
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The music of Julius Eastman (1940-90) is enjoying an on-going period of rediscovery. Ensemble (with the composer on piano) which has lain unheard for decades. It is also the work’s only known recording, documenting a 1974 performance by the S.E.M. This is the première release of Julius Eastman’s Femenine, for chamber ensemble.