Special to the News Sentinel
Terry Riley will be artist-in-residence for the 2010 Big Ears festival.
Special to the News Sentinel
Terry Riley will be artist-in-residence for the 2010 Big Ears festival.
Avant garde music legend Terry Riley will be the artist-in-residence for the 2010 Big Ears Festival.
Riley is widely considered to be the dean of minimalist classical music and one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
Beginning with his 1964 composition, "In C," Riley's work has inspired modern classical composers, including Philip Glass, Steve Reich and John Adams, along with rock acts, including the Who, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Curved Air, which took its name from Riley's groundbreaking electronic work "A Rainbow in Curved Air."
The 2010 Big Ears festival will be March 26-28 at venues in downtown Knoxville.
The inaugural 2009 Big Ears festival brought music fans from around the world to Knoxville to hear modern music greats, including Philip Glass, Antony and the Johnsons, the Necks, Ned Rothenberg, Pauline Oliveros and others. The festival earned positive coverage around the globe, including from the New York Times.
The festival was created and is promoted by Knoxville's AC Entertainment, which cofounded and coproduces the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn.
Ashley Capps, president of AC Entertainment, said he had been working on getting Riley for the festival before the first festival had even been announced.
"I'm very excited we've worked it out, especially considering this will be Terry Riley's 75th birthday year," said Capps, speaking from a plane in New York where he was making more arrangements for the event. Riley will turn 75 on June 24.
Riley is expected to perform several of his own compositions.
The Calder String Quartet also will perform a program of Riley compositions, and a number of artists are expected to join forces to perform Riley's "In C."
While other artists at the event are yet to be announced and negotiations are ongoing, Capps said that audiences would be "pleased by the scope and variety of offerings" at the 2010 event.
"We'll have a full schedule of programming that will appeal to a wide range of people," said Capps.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale in early December.
Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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