Latest: Raven Chacon’s Sound-and-Art Symphony
As to the work’s duration and execution, the only directions Chacon gives are that it should run “at least 13 minutes” and be performed by “any number of musicians with any number of non-musicians.” Indeed, one of Chacon’s guiding principles is that much of his work be available to amateur performers. A 2005 Yoko Ono-like work titled “Scream Out of Each Window” is an example. It exists in the show only as a takeaway printed text, which reads in full:For a family to perform,For as long as they want,In a tall building,On different levels, toward the same direction,Scream out of each window.And, in fact, versions of this piece are likely being performed — as life, not as art — in New York City neighborhoods every day.Scores like this one bring to mind the work of the pioneering composer Jo...