George E. Lewis

Arbeitsvorhaben

Comet/Poppea and After

For the first part of the academic year, I will complete a 60-minute chamber opera that combines two seemingly disparate sources: "The Comet" (1920), a science fiction short story by W. E. B. Du Bois that combines intimations of a dystopia of extraterrestrial origin with the ongoing dystopia of the US racialized social and political regime; and Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea" (1643), the canonical opera of political and sexual intrigue set in ancient Rome. "The Comet" is set in early twentieth-century New York City, where an extraterrestrial event has resulted in the deaths of most of the city's inhabitants, except for Jim, an African American man, and Julia, a white socialite. As this extraordinary event places extreme pressure on established notions of race and place, notions of hybrid vigor attend the self-fashionings of Jim and Julia as a new Adam and Eve.
The combined work, "Comet/Poppea", will be directed by Yuval Sharon and his company, The Industry. Douglas Kearney's libretto is now complete and I have begun composing the music for completion by January 2021, for June 2021 premieres in New York and Los Angeles.
For the second part of the academic year, I will perform primary research on a monograph on critical improvisation studies, a metafield that has exploded in recent years, as my co-edited Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies (2016) amply documents. For this research, I intend to work from my primary bases in music composition, musicology, improvisation, and interactive technology, all areas in which I have published extensively.

Recommended Reading

Lewis, George E. A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experi-mental Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Recommended Listening

Lewis, George E. Afterword (2015), opera, with libretto by George Lewis. Premiered October 16-17, 2015, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. https://vimeo.com/148533728.
-. The Will To Adorn (2011), composition for large chamber ensemble. Premiered November 12, 2011, Miller Theatre, New York City. https://vimeo.com/33061529.

Kolloquium, 30.03.2021

Wo gehen Worte hin?

In seinem bemerkenswerten Buch "In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition" (2003) zitiert Fred Moten den Saxofonisten Charles Lloyd. Auf die Aufforderung, sich zu seiner Musik zu äußern, versichert dieser seinem Gesprächspartner: "Worte gehen dort nicht hin." Als Reaktion auf Lloyd stellt der Theoretiker (und Dichter) Moten die einfache und naheliegende, aber dennoch grundlegende Frage: "Wo gehen Worte hin?" Ich halte diesen Vortrag als Künstler und antworte auf rhizomatische Weise auf Motens Frage, indem ich eine Reihe historischer, kultureller, poetischer, musikalischer und persönlicher Quellen und Methoden sichtbar mache, die der Verwendung von Text und Stimme in vier meiner Kompositionen zugrunde liegen: !Changing With The Times" (Hörspiel, 1991), "North Star Boogaloo" für Schlagzeug und Fixed Media (1996), "Anthem" für Stimme und Ensemble (2011) und meine Oper "Afterword" (2015). Nebenbei erörtere ich das neue Bewusstsein für Kreolisierung und Dekolonialisierung, das der zeitgenössischen Musik heute zur Verfügung steht.

Ausgewählte Veröffentlichungen

externe Publikationsliste

Publikationen aus der Fellowbibliothek

Lewis, George E. (S.n., 2023)

Afterworld : an opera in two acts

Lewis, George E. (Leipzig, 2021)

H. narrans : for voice and chamber ensemble Contemporary

Lewis, George E. ([New York], 2021)

The recombinant trilogy Selections::Instrumental music

Lewis, George E. ([Place of publication not identified], 2020)

Rainbow family

Lewis, George E. (Leipzig, 2020)

Tales of the traveller : for soloist (any instrument), flute/piccolo, clarinet in B-flat, trumpet in C, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, violin, violoncello, and percussion Peters contemporary library

Lewis, George E. (Zürich, 2020)

A small act of curation

Lewis, George E. (Leipzig, 2019)

Ikons : for flute/alto flute in F, clarinet in B-flat, bassoon/contrabassoon, trombone, violin, violoncello, contrabass, and percussion

Lewis, George E. (Leipzig, 2019)

Artificial life 2007 : for felxible ensemble Artificial life 2007

Lewis, George E. (Chicago, Ill., 2019)

Listening for freedom with Arnold Davidson

Lewis, George E. (Leipzig, 2018)

The will to adorn : for chamber orchestra Peters contemporary library