Charles Amirkhanian Collection ➔ Charles Amirkhanian, with Nicolas Slonimsky, Peter Garland, and Conlon Nancarrow, seated, Los Angeles, 1985
Still image
Identifier
IM.CA.PC.0041.001Dates
1985 | createdWork Type
Photographic printImage Class
Composer & Performer PortraitsImage Series
New Music America Festival (1985)Description
KPFA Music Director Charles Amirkhanian, with Nicolas Slonimsky, Peter Garland, and Conlon Nancarrow (l to r) during a free moment at the 1985 New Music America Festival in Los Angeles. A self-described child prodigy, Slonimsky was born in St. Petersburg in 1894. In 1923 he came to the United States, eventually becoming very involved in the avant-garde musical scene, both by playing adventurous pieces of his own on the piano, as well as conducting the world premieres of Edgar Varèse's pioneering work for percussion “Ionisation”, works by Charles Ives and others. Garland is perhaps best known as the editor of the journal "Soundings" which published the scores of many avant-garde composers. Garland's own music has been influenced by his interest in the music of Indonesia and Mexico. Born in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1912,Conlon Nancarrow was a composer who turned an anachronistic gadget, the player piano, into a vehicle for greatness. After serving in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, Nancarrow moved to Mexico City, where he composed in relative obscurity, until interest in his music was revived through the work of Amirkhanian and others. Nancarrow eventually returned to the United States for occasional concerts given in his honor, such as this appearance at the Cabrillo Music Festival.Genres & Subjects
Group portraits--1980-1990Men
Composers
Conductors