The online version of Reunion hosted by JohnCage.org will launch after the first performances of Laquearia in August 2013, It will comprise an online chess game that will allow anyone who chooses to participate to play a game of chess and create the structure for the composition and listen to Reunion.
Created by Dr Christopher Jefferson and Dr Ian Miguel of the University of St Andrews’ School of Computer Science, the online version will recreate, as faithfully as possible ,the original indeterminate structure devised by John Cage and Lowell Cross while making necessary accommodations for its use with recorded music.
Jacob Carpenter Morris, Lynn Wright, and Marc Thorman have been commissioned to compose new works for this online iteration of Reunion, which will also include Cage’s composition Chess Pieces (1943) to reunite this new version with the old.
Created by Dr Christopher Jefferson and Dr Ian Miguel of the University of St Andrews’ School of Computer Science, the online version will recreate, as faithfully as possible ,the original indeterminate structure devised by John Cage and Lowell Cross while making necessary accommodations for its use with recorded music.
Jacob Carpenter Morris, Lynn Wright, and Marc Thorman have been commissioned to compose new works for this online iteration of Reunion, which will also include Cage’s composition Chess Pieces (1943) to reunite this new version with the old.
John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, & Teeny Duchamp performing Reunion at its premiere in Toronto, 5th March, 1968
Photograph by Lynn Rosenthal, courtesy of The John Cage Trust
Dr Christopher Jefferson is a Lecturer at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. His research uses Artificial Intelligence to automatically create puzzle games, solve problems in theoretical mathematics, debug software, and many other problems. Chris started his PhD at the University of York in 2002. He worked in Oxford University as a post-doc from 2005 until 2008, before moving to his current home in the University of St Andrews
Dr Ian Miguel is a Reader in Computer Science at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. His research is in Constraint Programming, a sub-field of Artificial Intelligence focused on the solution of complex combinatorial problems, such as planning and scheduling. Ian completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2001 then worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of York until 2004. In 2004 he was awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship and moved to St Andrews as a lecturer before being promoted to Reader in 2009. Ian is an amateur musician with an interest in experimental music.
Composers
Marc Thorman is a composer, pianist, and educator in New York City whose compositions include works for voice and orchestral instruments as well as electronic media. Marc is a two-time recipient of the John Cage award for experimental composition and the author of an award-winning doctoral dissertation on Cage's text compositions.
Lynn Wright is a composer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His music is a collision of post-rock minimalism, avante-garde jazz, god-less gospel, musique concrète, and the rhythms of Latin America and Africa; it has been featured on the BBC, PBS, NPR, and in independent films in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. His work includes music for film, dance, sound installation, avant rock and jazz ensembles, and mixed media.
Jacob Carpenter Morris lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Jacob has previously contributed music for Victoria Miguel's online play De Tribus Impostoribus and her book My Favorite Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs, and is proud to be working with her again. He has recorded works for Matador records, RCRDLBL.com, as well as the BBC's John Peel Sessions.
Lynn Wright is a composer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His music is a collision of post-rock minimalism, avante-garde jazz, god-less gospel, musique concrète, and the rhythms of Latin America and Africa; it has been featured on the BBC, PBS, NPR, and in independent films in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. His work includes music for film, dance, sound installation, avant rock and jazz ensembles, and mixed media.
Jacob Carpenter Morris lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Jacob has previously contributed music for Victoria Miguel's online play De Tribus Impostoribus and her book My Favorite Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Paragraphs, and is proud to be working with her again. He has recorded works for Matador records, RCRDLBL.com, as well as the BBC's John Peel Sessions.