We had a wonderful performance of a new work for les 100 guitares, entitled Flamme d’Alban, which was realized on the evening of the summer soltice, 23 June 2018 in Le Havre.  I will be writing more about this event shortly.

Here is a link to some interviews with the guitarists who participated (in French, includes full color photographs):

http://lh.boulevarddesartistes.com/entretiens/entretien-avec-les-guitaristes-du-concert-des-100-guitares

We are mounting “Les 100 guitares” this June 23 in Le Havre, France. It’s going to be outside and on the beach, a highly pagan fire festival with 100 electric guitars, and HUGE bonfires!

If you are interested in participating as a guitarist, here is a link to where you can sign up :

Guitaristes, participez à une aventure musicale grandiose !

The rehearsals will be in French, but I will be conducting the rehearsals, and I have a heavy anglophone accent when I speak French, so you will be able to understand me!

Le CEM et le GIP Un été au Havre présentent dans le cadre de l’ouverture de « Un été au Havre 2018 » « Flamme d’Alban Hefin » pour 100 guitares électriques (et plus) de Rhys Chatham le 23 juin à 23h à la plage du Havre.

Rhys Chatham fait partie de ces compositeurs dits « minimalistes ». Au milieu des années 1970, il a travaillé aux côtés d’expérimentalistes soniques tels que Philippe Glass, La Monte Young et Steve Reich à New York. Son univers musical a été bouleversé quand il découvre le premier album éponyme des Ramones. Et c’est ainsi que Rhys Chatham a réuni les deux univers musicaux qui le passionnaient au sein d’une même volonté : celle de créer des œuvres musicales à base d’expérimentation, de répétitivité et de murs de guitares.

—ooOoo—

Performance: Guitar Trio with Rhys Chatham, Robert Longo, Ernie Brooks, Karen Haglof, Jason Bartell, Jonathan Kane, Jon Kessler, and Lee Ranaldo.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

7 pm

Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, 5th Floor

Two day Guitar Trio workshop in Madrid on 25, 26 November 2017
at Matadero Madrid, Centro de Creacion Contemporanea.

Details here (in Spanish):
http://www.mataderomadrid.org/ficha/7652/convocatoria-taller-de-guitarras-con-rhys-chatham.html

Rhys will be conducting a workshop explaining the special techniques and theory of his work, as well as instruction on how to play this seminal piece, Guitar Trio. The workshop will take place at Matdero Madrid, Centro de Creacion Contemporanea in Madrid, Spain on 25, 26 November 2017 and will culminate with a performance the day after the workshop.

Guitarists who play on a serious amateur level are welcome. The workshop is for amateurs who already know how to play guitar, and would like to learn the techniques used by Rhys Chatham.

Participants would need to attend the entire workshop on Day 1 in order to play in the performance on Day 2. Here is the content of the workshop:

Day 1
60 min – Introduction
Composer will introduce himself and talk about his history, working tactics, compositions, collaborations etc. leading into the composition of Guitar Trio, how it was composed, the history of the piece, how it works

30 min – Gear
Composer will discuss with the participants what guitars work for G3 and why acoustics, hollow body guitars etc. do not work. Talk about pics and sizes/weight, talk about choosing an amp for this, etc.

30-60 min – Tuning
Composer will talk about how to tune, how to work with a tuner, etc. Talk about special tunings in general and the different styles you work with for different pieces and specifically the G3 tuning. Will talk about overtones, how this relates to this piece etc. etc.

– Break –

1.5-2 hours – Playing Guitar Trio
Composers will work with the guitarist on how to play Guitar Trio

Day 2

30 min arrival / set up
2 hours – Playing / rehearsing G3 with live drummer and bassist
30 min – soundcheck
Performance

(Posted after the workshop, on 30 Nomber 2017)

Here is a nice video of the performances surrounding the workshop, including shots of the performance of guitar Trio at Matadero Madrid:

LA PLAZA EN INVIERNO 2017 from Matadero Madrid on Vimeo.

—ooOoo—

We’re mounting A Crimson Grail (for 100 guitars) in Sydney, Australia on 12, 13 January as part of the Sydney Festival, the word’s just out!  More info on this to come.