Julius Eastman’s Femenine is an ecstatic musical journey, an exercise in collective music making that NPR described as “… a mesmerizing 70-minute groove that unfolds one beautiful moment after another.”

Listen to an excerpt of Wild Up’s recording of Femenine.

Our April 20th performance of Femenine will feature an all-star lineup of Portland’s finest improvising musicians, including including Darrell Grant, Bora Yoon, Kenji Bunch, Kirt Peterson, Mike Gamble, and John Nastos, all joining the 45^th Parallel virtuosos.

It’s a different kind of music making that we’re asked to do, probably more familiar to jazz artists than traditional classical players. Eastman left us a very spare score, four pages with a few directions, and a LOT of freedom to explore the large structures that Eastman sets up. It’s very similar in some respects to In C by Terry Riley. The score is merely a starting point. “Here’s the basic idea, friends… now do something with it!”

There’s a lot to love about Femenine, especially the opportunity to better understand the new music scene of New York during the early days of minimalism. Femenine (1974) was composed two years before Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, so this idea of large-scale works of collective collaboration was definitely in the air at that time.

“I want to be able to use anything in my environment to make music.”
– Julius Eastman

Femenine begins with sleigh bells, played both by live players and a device we’ll build that replicates one that Eastman used in his original performances. And our choice of venue, Straub Collaborative, reflects our desire to create the right vibe for the piece, a non-traditional venue for a very non-traditional program. Not a single proscenium to be found…

“The voice is the most personal instrument of all, because it comes from within.”
– Meredith Monk

While on a road trip with my family seven years ago, I heard this amazing radio piece on NPR, featuring Meredith’s unmistakable vocalizations accompanying a fascinating poem about the rambunctious lives of boys, written by Rick Moody and narrated by Julia Slavin. Like anything that Meredith does, it was inventive, interesting, intriguing, and simply brilliant.

I’ve always had that piece stuck in my head, waiting for the opportunity to perhaps adapt it for live performance. So it was to my great surprise and joy when Meredith agreed to give 45^th Parallel permission to perform Boys, the perfect complement to Julius Eastman’s Femenine, and thus the perfect concert is born! I’ve since learned that Eastman often worked with Meredith, and was a big fan of her work. Mind. Blown.

Our adaptation of Boys will feature Oregon civil rights champion Kathleen Saadat as narrator, accompanied by a recorded soundtrack of Meredith’s vocalizations. Needless to say, we are THRILLED to have Kathleen join us for this performance!

Oregon civil rights activist Kathleen Saadat is one of the state’s most respected and admired leaders. A graduate of Reed College, she has been on the front lines of political and social activism for over 40 years. She was the Affirmative Action Director of Oregon under Governor Neil Goldschmidt, and was one of the drafters of the Portland Civil Rights Ordinance. She has worked tirelessly for social justice, advocating for people of color, women, the LGBQ community, and the economically disadvantaged, among others.

Listen to an excerpt of Meredith Monk’s Boys.

Meredith Monk is a pioneering American composer, singer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work defies easy categorization. Born in 1942 in New York, she began her career as a choreographer and performer, developing a unique style that blended elements of opera, avant-garde jazz, and world music. She remains a vital force in the contemporary arts world, inspiring generations of artists with her innovative and boundary-pushing creations.

And… there will be soup!

Eastman was fond of serving soup at his concerts, so we’re thrilled to have PDX based Stone Soup on hand to serve their sumptuous soups at the concert ;)

We hope to see you there, for what will be an amazing evening of music making!

Ron Blessinger
Violinist & Executive Director, 45^th Parallel Universe