Mainstage Performance

Dave Douglas, composer & Bill Morrison, filmmaker, with Dave Douglas’ Keystone

Spark of Being

Saturday, April 24, 2010 | 8:00 pm
Memorial Auditorium

$30–56 (Adult) | $10 (Stanford Student)
$27–53 (Other Student)
$15–28 (Youth Under 18)

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Two master innovators—jazz trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas and experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison—draw on the unique resources of Stanford University to create Spark of Being,a monumental work combining the screening of film with live musical performance (by Douglas’ electric band Keystone).

The new work, commissioned by Lively Arts and making its world premiere in this performance, incorporates archival visual elements and newly developed sound components culled by Morrison and Douglas from the archives of the Cantor Center for the Arts, the Hoover Institution, CCRMA, and other sources on the Stanford campus. A centerpiece of the multi-faceted “Art + Invention” theme inspiring the programming of Lively Arts, the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts (SiCa), and other campus organizations throughout 2009–10, Spark of Being also represents the culmination of a multi-stage “Creative Campus” residency at Stanford by Douglas and Morrison (see funder credits below).

Bill Morrison is best known for his film Decasia, a hypnotic collage of archival footage undergoing the process of decay. The Village Voice named Decasia one of its “Top Ten Films of 2003,” calling it “that rare thing: a work with avant-garde and universal appeal.” Dave Douglas is a DownBeat magazine “Artist of the Year” honoree, the artistic director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at the Banff Center, and has been a member of such celebrated ensembles as John Zorn’s Masada and the SFJAZZ Collective. His Grammy-nominated sextet Keystone—one of more than a dozen ensembles he has led over the years—combines electric jazz with electronica and other styles, and was formed specifically to perform new scores for classic films.

DISCUSSION

Post-performance discussion with Dave Douglas and Bill Morrison.

Acknowledgments

Spark of Being and the Dave Douglas–Bill Morrison residency at Stanford are made possible in part by a generous “Creative Campus” grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Additional commissioning support provided by Meet the Composer's Commissioning Music/USA program and the Walker Art Center.

This project is produced by Stanford Lively Arts in partnership with SiCa, with additional support from CCRMA, the Cantor Center for the Arts, the Hoover Institution, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, and other campus partners.

Generously supported by Marty and Bonnie Tenenbaum.

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Purchase Tickets

Apr 24, 2010, 8:00 pm

Learn More

Dave Douglas Web site »

Bill Morrison myspace page »