Earlier this month I took a road trip from the Mini-Apple to the Big Apple with some friends to see sights and celebrate America's birthday. In addition to seeing one of the largest firework displays in the country, I got to finally go to the MoMA, which was probably the highlight of the trip for me. As a lover of art, I wanted to share some awesome pieces I got to see, as well as some other neat pictures I took! 

(clockwise from left to right) rewind, play, fast forward by Shea Bartel; Into the Woods by Linnea Doyle; Extended Techniques by Jamie Winter Dawson. 

This past weekend, Renegade Ensemble had our first ever ReneGALA, a gallery show/performance featuring works from this past season's Visual Artist Collaboration Series. We had a different visual artist come on stage with us during each concert series and create a new piece of art while we performed! The paintings were sold in an auction during the exhibit, along with some of the artist's other work. The ensemble performed a few highlights from the past season, as well as a few preview performances for next season!

Defined by human activities, places are ever-changing, ever-decaying, and always being reborn, often through collective action and collaboration. From Space to Place features projects from local, national and international artists and designers that reexamine place and one's relationship to it. The projects are a result of collaborative and individual efforts to interpret and investigate the phenomena of place and placemaking—the transformation of a space into that which has a distinct identity.

Featuring CookKIT from 7pm-10pm outside Regis
Parallel Hypothetical from 7pm-10pm at Rapson Hall
Identity of the Moment, a live performance by Anna Carlson & Joey Crane at 8pm at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery

I will be performing on the Identity of the Moment exhibit on May 30! It will be a performance art work for alto saxophone and soprano voice (Elizabeth Windnagel) of Joey Crane's piece Jewface in collaboration with fashion designer Anna Carlson. Come check it out!

Proceeds from the event will provide funding for our 2013-2014 season. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased HERE.

Can't make it to the gala but still want to support our 2013 season? Donations can be made through our GiveMN page HERE and thank you!

Check out the Facebook event HERE.

Visit the Renegade website HERE.

RenegadeEnsemble is pleased to present our spring concert featuring several "woodsy" works, including two premieres, and will showcase Twin Cities artist Linnea Doyle creating a painting live alongside and in reaction to the music.

Hard Fairy by Graham Fitkin
Hens by Chris Gables
Lunch with a Nun by James Holdman
Black by Katherine Bergman
is himself no more by Ted Moore

RenegadeEnsemble includes:
Alyssa Anderson, voice & spoken word
David Birrow, percussion
Kyle Hutchins, saxophone
Christopher Raddatz, clarinet
Stanley Rothrock II, piano
Joseph Spoelstra, guitar

Also joining us will be guest pianist Peter John.

Reserve your tickets HERE!

I have been very influenced by Marina Abramovic the last couple of months. She is a brilliant performance artist who can really engage with her audience on a personal level. I bought this film last week, which is a documentary on her latest piece The Artist is Present that was performed at MoMA in NYC along with a retrospective of her life's work. For the piece, there was a large space with a table and two chairs; she would sit in one chair and an audience member would sit in the other and they would share a moment of silence together. A simple concept, but one that created a profound experience for the audience. Below is a YouTube video of a talk Marina gave about art and the process of preparing to give a performance. Very much worth watching!

As a performer and lover of new and contemporary music, is it often hard to know how to fill seats when no one has heard of the music being performed, and many unaware of what is happening on stage. More often times the music is completely unsingable and lacks a clear melody yet there is a quality about it that pulls at us in a certain way to make us want to perform it. Surely if we want to perform this music so much, there is an audience just waiting to hear it. Many musicians spend hours a day for weeks on end taming monumental contemporary works that fall flat for the "uninformed" and (dare I say...) non-academic crowd. That is if we have enough audience members to call it a "crowd." But on we slave, hopeful that our love for contemporary music will find new audiences and that our efforts will be rewarded.

Recently, I had the opportunity to perform on a collective show called Permanent Collection, which was the third in a series of performing arts installments curated by Colin Hacklander.

This was an interesting show to be a part of because it not only featured a saxophone quartet by Mike Duffy and saxophone solo by Adam Zahller, it also had independent short films, improvised music and videos, rock music, etc. It was quite the blend of music, art, and film. There was even an article written about it in L'étoile Magazine here.

As you can probably guess, this was not the kind of setting where patrons buy tickets, are quietly ushered to their seats where they must sit for an hour or more in the dark without moving, listening to someone make a bunch of noise that they might not even comprehend. This was the kind of setting where patrons buy tickets and get a free beer. Rarely do I play for a large crowd of non-musicians (at least not classically trained musicians), and when I do they are usually older than me. This show was filled with dozens of people in their 20's and 30's that not only listened attentively, but were receptive of the music. How often do we get that as contemporary musicians? Plus, with a little beer not only do I play better, I sound better too!

Many applauds to the efforts of Colin and everyone involved in creating this event. It is refreshing to be surrounded with open minded and receptive audiences, and to associate with people who make efforts to transform the role of art in our culture.