Oct 12
Carleton Connects: Mark Applebaum '89 and musical decomposition
This event took place on October 12, 2021.
Composers have long struggled between the impulse to write conventional pieces that hew to known forms, established instruments, and traditional harmonic schemes and the urge to discard familiar paradigms in favor of new, exciting, and often confounding approaches. Composer, Stanford University professor, Carleton alumnus, and current Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor Mark Applebaum was steeped in classical music during his formative years but is best known for his experimental pieces that challenge the conventional boundaries of musical ontology: works for three conductors and no players, a concerto for florist and orchestra, pieces for instruments made of junk, works for an invented sign language choreographed to sound, a chamber work comprised of obsessive page turns, and a 72-foot long graphic score displayed in a museum and accompanied by no instructions for its interpretation. In this talk he shares his musical journey since his student days at Carleton, giving particular attention to opposing inclinations regarding tradition and progress.
About the speaker
Mark Applebaum '89 is the Leland and Edith Smith Professor of Composition at Stanford University, where he 'directs' the Stanford Improvisation Collective. His solo, chamber, choral, orchestral, operatic, and electroacoustic works have been performed on six continents, including notable commissions from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Fromm Foundation, the Spoleto Festival, the Kronos Quartet, Chamber Music America, and the Vienna Modern Festival. His TED talk has been seen by more than five million viewers. Applebaum is also an accomplished jazz pianist and builds electroacoustic sound-sculptures out of junk, hardware, and found objects.