Dresher to Stream Concert of Improvisations

Participating improvisors (left to right): Sarah Cahill, Vân-Ánh Võ, Rinde Eckert, Paul Dresher, Joel Davel (from the Eventbrite Web page)

Improvisation has long had core significance in Paul Dresher’s practices as a composer. This has been evident in both the scores he has created for the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and the approach to performance with his colleague Joel Davel in concerts given by the Dresher Davel Invented Instrument Duo. Next month Dresher will present With Friends Like These, a concert program in which improvisation will be primary and will involve an imaginative variety of instrumental and vocal combinations.

The performers will include both Dresher and Davel playing the diverse assortment of instruments that are played by the Dresher Davel Invented Instrument Duo. They will be joined by three “guest artists.” The first of these will be pianist Sarah Cahill, for whom Dresher has dedicated music for her to play. The second will be Rinde Eckert, whom I encountered for the first time in 1983 when the George Coates Performance Works presented The Way of How during a Next Wave concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. (Dresher also performed in that concert.) Eckert will play accordion and provide vocal solos. The final guest artist will be Vân-Ánh Võ performing on three traditional Vietnamese instruments, dàn tranh, dàn bầu, and dàn t’rung.

The program will consist of four pre-recorded segments, which will be followed by a live Q&A/interview session. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 13. There will be no charge for admission, but registration will be required. Eventbrite has created a Web page to enable registration and to encourage support for this event through donations. Once the Eventbrite order has been confirmed, electronic mail will be sent prior to the performance providing the link necessary to attend.