James Tenney (1934-2006)
Open Spaces are productions that directly engage the audience in the creative process. Local communities new to music work with a curating team to create a musical work that may be presented at a partner’s music festival. Although a quality artistic result is a goal, the priority is to create a meaningful musical experience for audiences. Open Spaces represent a safe zone for testing different techniques that will be re-tested in different cultural contexts.
In 2023, the Quatuor Bozzini string quartet brings a spatial work to Time of Music – a concert in which anyone can be a part of the performance.
The Viitasaari church hosts a unique community concert in which anyone can participate in the performance, regardless of instrument or musical genre. James Tenney‘s In a Large Open Space, performed under the guidance of Quatuor Bozzini, is also a spatial work, during which the audience can move freely in the church, surrounded by music.
James Tenney’s piece is a meditative and slow work that fills the space with sound. The audience gets to experience the space together with the performers. The whole creates a strong musical and spatial experience open to music hobbyists and professional musicians alike. Each participant brings the necessary equipment, such as musical instruments, music stands etc., participates in rehearsals at the Viitasaari church, and performs on the concert day. A unique opportunity to work with the Quatuor Bozzini at Viitasaari, along with students from the local music institute and the Time of Music courses.
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In 2024, Musica Impulscentrum presents In A Large Open Space in the large open space of St Nicholas Church. The musicians are scattered around the room. The audience moves freely in the space and through the music.
The work’s compositional material is limited: it consists of 32 tones of a natural harmonic series from which each player chooses. Each chosen note is held for 30 to 60 seconds. Then the performer chooses another note from the sequence. This process is repeated continuously. With each performance, therefore, the work emerges anew, each time in a different way.
During the development process of this project, students of the Antwerp Conservatory of Music, from different disciplines and years of study, were coached by Thomas Moore and Pieter Matthynssens.
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Interested in Open Spaces? Check out Musica’s Time Capsule Turangalîla or SPOR Festival’s Open Space with Goodiepal and Bananskolen