[silence] MUSICIRCUS, SEPT. 12, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S UNITY TEMPLE

[David Patterson]

UNITY TEMPLE: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S
 MODERN MASTERPIECE 1909-2009
  A JOHN CAGE MUSICIRCUSSATURDAY, SEPT. 12, 1–4 P.M.

call for participants “You won’t hear a thing; you’ll hear everything.”--John Cage on the Musicircus, 1969 [Hi, Silence-ers!  Below, a letter that has only just gone out, both FYI and in the off chance that you are in the Oak Park/Chicagoland area and would like to participate.  Thanks! -- David P.]
April 9, 2009
Dear friends of Unity Temple Restoration Foundation:
Picture if you will –
A pianist.  A jazz trombonist.  A go-go dancer.  A ukulelist.  A fully costumed actor doing dramatic readings from a French dictionary.  A juggler.  And all of them in the same room performing simultaneously – a cacophony all the more unique, given its occurrence in a space as auspicious as Unity Temple.  Meanwhile at Unity House the situation is no less curious, as wandering through its spaces, one comes across a flock of belly dancers, a man “playing” the amplified tines of a cactus, children reading original stories, a roving barbershop quartet and a small cluster of silent yet ardent knitters.  In the Entrance Hall, it would almost be possible to hear the complete performance of the sitar player in the corner, if it weren’t for the junior high school band that ambled through momentarily playing a Sousa march, or the docent who burst into a three-minute excerpt from her standard Unity Temple tour.  Just outside, an
 unsynchronized trio consisting of a hula-hoop artist, accordionist and semaphore specialist (who stands atop one of the giant concrete planters) draws in a steady flow of intrigued and sometimes mystified passers-by, who ultimately explore the entire space not just once, but two or even three times, each circuit yielding its own set of unpredictable and entertaining surprises.
Is this a bizarre dream brought on by the late-night over-indulgence in spicy foods?  A hallucination caused by the misidentification of ostensibly edible wild mushrooms? Perhaps it’s the painting that Dali forgot to paint?
On Saturday, September 12, from 1 to 4 p.m., Unity Temple Restoration Foundation will mount a MUSICIRCUS as part of its “Break the Box” program series, which explores innovative thinking and creative nonconformity in architecture and the culture at large.  An idea first executed in 1967 by composer and avant-garde guru John Cage, a “Musicircus” (coined by combining the words “music” and “circus”) is a free-of-charge event consisting of simultaneous performances by as many different volunteer musicians, actors, dancers, performance artists, etc., as might be gathered within a single space.
An event such as this has exceptional potential, and in staging a Musicircus at Unity Temple, the Restoration Foundation hopes to promote:The restoration effort itself by drawing the attention of a large general audience to the urgent needs of the space;Unity Temple as a tourism destination by posting video clips of this event online (e.g., via YouTube), thereby reaching an international audience;The community of Oak Park, River Forest and other area musicians, artists, dancers, etc., by making such local talent the core of the performer roster itself.As you might imagine, while the actual event will appear spontaneous and wildly random to the viewer, the behind-the-scenes preparation and coordination can be involved, and given that our target goal is to gather approximately 200-250 different performers who might fill this three-hour event, it will not be surprising that we are putting out the CALL FOR TALENT now, several months ahead of the September
 date.
What is YOUR talent?  Can you play an instrument, or act, or dance, or …?  You need not be a “professional,” and the performance doesn’t have to be worthy of Carnegie Hall.  All that’s really necessary is your willingness to perform to the best of your ability and accept that in this kind of environment you may occasionally overshadow or be overshadowed by other participants.  (Due to the resonant nature of the space and the potential limitations of the building’s electrical system, we would like to limit amplified performances as much as possible, and a performance that can be easily set up and broken down is ideal.  Otherwise, there are few limitations.)  As the hypothetical scenario above suggests, a Musicircus casts a very wide net in its search for appropriate talent, so don’t sell yourself short if you can’t sing or tap dance – chances are good that you’ve got something valuable to contribute to the fun, and we
 would be delighted and grateful to be able to include you.  We hope that you will be enticed into promoting the restoration of Unity Temple and the creative talent of the area by contributing your time to this unusual and dynamic event!  
As a UTRF volunteer and musicologist who specializes in the work of John Cage, I’m honored to be the point-person and coordinator for this Musicircus.  If you are interested in responding to this initial call for participants (and we certainly hope that you are), or should you have questions, please contact me at dpatterson@utrf.org so that we might begin assembling our talent roster.  In your e-mail, include details as to what you would like to perform, as well as your contact information (e-mail, telephone and snail mail address).  And of course, if you are aware of other interested parties, please feel free to pass this call for performers on to them as well!
Thanks in advance for your consideration.  We hope to hear from you!
Sincerely, David PattersonMusicircus Coordinator Unity Temple Restoration Foundation restores and preserves Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1909 masterpiece of modern architecture, Unity Temple. UTRF also advances Unity Temple’s global and contemporary significance with programming that embodies Wright’s spirit of innovation and enriches the lives of those it serves.  


      
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