David Demonstrates His Ideas Not Just In a Conference, But In Musical Performance
The night of the conference, David invited me, as well as his captivated audience, to a show he presented in New York City’s preeminent “art & alcohol” venue, Le Poisson Rouge.
The point of the show, a showcase of innovative chamber ensembles, was to apply the principles of his seminar into palpable action.
CreArtBox showed us a new way to spin the performance wheel with an intriguing adaptation of classical music and its several centuries of performance.
A moment of Beethoven in his early, formal classical period transitioned, without significant pause, into modern works by George Crumb and Frederic Rzewski, whose music was written some 150+ years post-Beethoven.
The audience, though a musically educated group, felt a message of chronologically dissonant collage that felt, in the moment, a breaking of barriers both artistic and generational.
The Fourth Wall, a trio consisting of flutist Hilary Abigana, trombonist C. Neil Parsons, and percussionist Greg Jukes, had the most vibrant performance of the night, combining gestural performance art with light-hearted musical fare composed by mostly living artists.
Their message was one of striking visual aura, replete with a unique humor intriguing the many audience goers.
Here’s an example of one of their performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPYsuzEhzv8.
The concert ended with David himself, performing a fantastical recomposed rendition of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
David aptly named this experiment Rhapsody In Purple.
On top of that, he performed the piano part in this semi-original work in partnership with the classical fusion quintet C Street Brass.
At first I, as well as that of many other audience members, was struck with an inherent musical challenge; why change something that is already established.
Rhapsody In Blue doesn’t need any new notes. This is a remarkably silly idea.
Or so I thought.
But then in the moment of his most astoundingly convincing performance, something strange happened.
It was a realization no longer challenged, but rather, informed by an entire day observing one man’s impassioned calling for steadfast innovation…
My mindset changed.