An Evening with Vocalist/Composer/Improviser Joan La Barbara March 17, 2011

New York, NY – Greenwich House Music School (GHMS) is pleased to present an evening devoted to vocalist/composer/improviser Joan La Barbara on Thursday, March 17 at 8 p.m., as part of the 25th anniversary of the North River Music series. “One of the great vocal virtuosas of our time" (San Francisco Examiner), Joan La Barbara has explored the human voice as a multi-faceted instrument, developing a unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques that have become her “signature sounds.” In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, she will join pianist Stephen Gosling to perform two John Cage works with text by James Joyce – “The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs” (1942) and its companion piece “Nowth Upon Nacht” (1984, in memoriam Cathy Berberian). The program also features Morton Feldman’s shortest composition, “Only” (1947), for voice alone with text by Rainer Maria Rilke, and “Gatekeeper” (2009-2010), for amplified voice and sonic atmosphere – an excerpt from La Barbara’s opera-in-progress inspired by the life and work of Virginia Woolf and dream fragments of Joseph Cornell. The evening will culminate in a solo improvisation, providing a unique and exciting insight into La Barbara’s vocal journey and creative process.

Founded by Frank Wigglesworth in 1985, GHMS’s North River Music is one of New York City’s first concert series devoted to new and experimental music. The concert will be followed by a reception.

Official Website: http://www.greenwichhouse.org/programs/arts/music