Terry Riley 80th Birthday Concert

April 18, 2015 | 04:00 pm

Gen: $20, students, seniors and alumni: $10, MIT community: Free
April 18, 2015 | 04:00 pm

Terry Riley, CAST Visiting Artist, returns to MIT for an 80th birthday concert. He will perform solo, with Gamelan Galak-Tika (White Space Conflict), which we commissioned and premiered the last time he was here), and with Eviyan; also the premiere a new arrangement (by Ziporyn) of his classic Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band.  Performers will include: saxophonist Eliot Gattegno and the University of Toronto Saxophone Ensemble, Wallace Halladay, director.

Sarah Cahill returns to play a series of works commissioned in homage to Terry Riley, including new works by Gyan Riley, Christine Southworth, Sam Adams, and Elena Ruehr. Terry Riley’s 80th Birthday with Terry Riley, Eviyan, Gamelan Galak Tika, Sarah Cahill, and the world premiere of all-live Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band

Headlining MIT Sounding, legendary composer Terry Riley makes his second appearance at MIT for his 80th birthday concert. Riley launched musical minimalism with his revolutionary classic IN C in 1964, a work whose influence continues to be felt in every corner of the musical world today, from classical concert halls to electronica clubs. Riley has since continued to compose and improvise hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated Eastern-flavored works which defy categorization. From his early 60s tape loop and trance music experiments and collaborations with La Monte Young, to his study of Hindustani musical traditions and eclectic compositions for the Kronos Quartet and other leading ensembles, Riley is a true musical innovator.