A special exhibition bringing together art and music will be featured in the SUNY Fredonia art gallery in February. “Notations 21: Exploring Visual Music and Creativity” will open on Friday, Feb. 4 with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m.
According to Rockefeller Arts Center Art Gallery Director Tina Hastings, the exhibition was created by composer Theresa Sauer, who compiled a collection of graphically notated scores for her book, “Notations 21.”
“Notations 21” runs through Feb. 27. Gallery hours are 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
“Currently selected scores are being shown at various galleries throughout the country,” Mrs. Hastings said. “The exhibit at SUNY Fredonia ties into the Convocation theme of ‘Faces and Phases of Creativity’ and shows how composers use a different form of artistic expression to further their own work.”
The goals of “Notations 21” are to promote innovation and creativity in music composition; create a public awareness and interest in the works of contemporary composers; explore the natural and necessary relationship between music and the visual arts; and celebrate the composers who take risks, ask questions, and further the progress of the arts.
According to Sauer, “Notations 21” draws its inspiration from a 1968 book by composer and musical innovator John Cage entitled “Notations.”
Cage compiled illustrated scores for music by composers he considered to be the greatest of the era – Milton Babbitt, Leonard Bernstein, George Crumb, Luc Ferrari, Igor Stravinsky and the Beatles. The book, according to the “Notations 2” web site, “became an instant classic, an introduction for the public at large to modern music, and the fascinating, innovative forms of notation that had only just started to emerge.”
“Notations 21” follows Cage’s format with works by some of the best modern composers. The scores are accompanied by written contributions from the artists that explore every facet of their creative processes, from inspiration to execution. Contributors include the likes of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Earle Brown, Halim El-Dabh, Joan La Barbara, and Yuji Takahashi.
Sauer will be signing copies of her book during the reception.
The opening reception and the exhibition are free and open to the public. The art gallery is located on the main level of Rockefeller Arts Center on Symphony Circle.
