A Feast of New Music

`hu lashion today is that everythinginumt be r,idical and new . They arenot the sanIe filing- "Radio-il"

rno,iris a return to refits, and "new" meanssornelhing That ilcls 11ever h,ippemedbefore . By 1huse delinltions, most of [tierinisic pelfocinecl ill S,-111t i FU last monthwas neither, °:once was one or tire other,but a surprising amount was excellent .An event that was interesting but

neither radical nor new was the perfor-mance by Bay area, avant-garde coin-poser Lou Harrison arid the Mills CollegeGamelan- Following in tire footsteps ofHaydn, Pierne, De Fa!la and Satie, Har-rison presented a puppet opera, RichardWhifngton, utilizing a text by JohnMasefield, the gamelan, and voices . Thefiat shadow puppets, held up against asilken screen and lighted from behind,were traditional, but elsewhere Harrisoncross~culiured with a vengeance- The onlythings new were the gamelan instrumentswhich are now made in the U.S- They arealkiminum which produces a lighter,brighter tone than the traditional in-struments of brass and iron- But crosscultural synthesis, no matter how con-sciously done, takes generations andmany practitioners before it jells, as hashappened in jazz- The gamelan is no ex-ception-What disappointed this listener was that

the whole thing was so undeveloped- Har-rison is a _gifted composer, but with somagnificent art instrument, as well as ade-quate voices, he seems to have merelysketched instead of creating a fully re-alized work-Orie :rita1 :arts are Ira no flurry, tradiIionaI

puppet shows often last from dusk todawn, and there is little connection bet-ween their concepts of action, tension andrelease, and ours- Richard Whittirlgion ismore narrated than acaed, and tendedtoward what we, with our saturated sensesand television nurtured impatience,would calf boring- Many of the patrons,who had laid out $8, walked out .

"Sounds are excellent (of themselves)"said grant{ old composer of the avarrf-garde, John Cage . So they proved duringTone Rouds West, the marathon poetryand music festival put together by SantaFe composer Peter Garland, poet ArthurSze and indefatigable administratorSuzanne lamisori . This was the first timeark event of this nature has taken place inSanta Fe, and it is to be hoped the fundingwill be forthcoming to make it an annualbash . Of the five concerts given over fourdays, three were exciting Honors weredivided among Santa Fe composersJoseph Weber and Peter Garland, andBoston composer-violinist Malcolm Gold-stein, making his first Southwestern ap-pearance .Weber is a lanky, flame-haired and

bearded man in whom time and fortunehave created some flame-like opinionsarid a certain bittersweet tension . Born inAntioch, California, he attended SanFrancisco State University, where histeacher was the composer Roger Nixon,His peers during the yeasty time of the'S0s were such now recognized composersas Laren Rush, Steve Reich, and PaulineOliveros .The comparison will doubtless net

please him, but Weber's performanceoi hisown compositions on piano and the St .Francis Auditorium organ inevitablyreminded are of the work of former SantaFe/Twos composer Tom Ehrlich- There isthe driving energy, the extended,marvelously arched line, the sonority .Weber gladly admits tire influence ofDebussy on his work, and the result ispure delight .

Driving energy is also evident in razor-thin, 30 year old Peter Garland, whomaynot make 40 unless he learns to pacehimself . He is certainly full of passionateintensity, and his music is compelling .While his earlier pianolharp pieces arewonderfully lyrical, his more recent work,particularly Motachin Dances (played byMalcolm Goldstein and Lynn Case, with

Garland handling fiat: gcxird rc.ittles), isone of like few really successful uses of"ethnic" materials by an "Anglo" corli-poser-Energy as pure delight is again ap-

phcable to the dazzling work of MalcolmGoldstein who flinches al being called avirtuoso- There is 110 doubt chat lie couldhave had a more conventional career ; It isour good fortune that he chose-to devotehimself to creating music rather than play-ing the standard repertory .

"Improvisation" is a loaded word, andGoldstein was careful to explain, in awide-ranging discussion the day after hisconcert, that freedom does not mean anar-chy . While the performer does havechoice about what sound he will play atany given moments, the parameters of thepiece are defined by the composer .

In this, Goldstein is literally radical butnot new, in that sense of returning to roots-Baroque music is exactly composed, butwith plenty of space for the creativity ofthe performer-

Goldsteiris performance shone with anintensity and sonority that was totallysatisfying, whether in his ensemble com-positions, which included taped soundsand sometimes slide projections, or in themesmerizing Soundings, in which Gold-stein thoroughly explored the possibilitiesof the violin . One would not have beensurprised to see flames coming cut of theinstruments, or his ears, or both!

Space limitations always dictate severechoices, and I have reserved little of it forthe "stars" of Tone Roads West, poeticom-poser Jackson MacLow and poet CarolynForche . I felt it was more important todiscuss New Mexico-based artists .At 60, Jackson MacLow is still a search-

ing, questing man, and he won all heartswhen, during a discussion with MalcolmGoldstein, he reminded us : "Whatsoeverthy hand findeth to do, do it with theymight." If there are any rules to art, this isa cardinal one, and MacLow knows thisto the marrow of his bones. The results,however, were equivocal . MacLow isrioted for his explorations of verbal soundsdivorced {roar conventional meaning- Thisis fascinating to the person who is doing it,but not usually transferable .Carolyn Forche is a thoughtful and

forceful person, as indicated by the talkshe gave on El Salvador and in a smallerdiscussion on the same somber topic- I did

not hear her read because 1 was simply tooexhausted- Mea culpa .There is also little space to talk about

tire pride: of poets from New Mexico whoread . The most forecitrl was Joy Harjo whocombined rhythmic vitality with nu.i-cliche imagery. The gods be thanked, shedid not read (as so many do) in one ofthose wispy, apologetic, high little girlvoices that reminds one of Jackie Ken-fled y-The final event of [tie Festival was a per-

formance by Charles Amirkhanian ofBerkeley of a work utilizing tape, "music,"text-sound, and projections by Carol Law .This reminded me of the chic/hipunderground movies I used to see at theold Italian Hall in North Beach in the'50s .Not a cliche was missed . The moneywould have been much better spent tobring Pauline Oliveros or Kay Gardner tothe Festival . While the organizers werecareful to include a female poet at everyreading, it still apparently did not occurto anybody that women write music.Tone Roads West was preceded by the

world premiere at C-G . Beiri Gallery ofWoody Vasulka's video "opera" The Corn-rr1fission .The plot is operatic indeed : the 19th

century composer Hector Berlioz wasostensibly commissioned to compose awork far file notorious violinist NiccoloPaganini who was very widely believed tobe the devil . The commission turned out tobe a fraud . Even more bizarre was theodyssey of Paganini's corpse, with whichThe Commission is largely concerned.

If music is "organized sound", asEdgard Varese averred, then The Com-missions is a musical work . But it was moreelectronically manipulated chant and nar-rative . As with most endeavors in thisfield, because it was done by a person notprincipally a composer, it was peculiarlytruncated and undeveloped ; splendid op-portunities to play with sound were al-lowed to slide by-However, video is not basically sound

but image- In The Commission, montage,crosscut, wipe, fade and computermanipulation o¬ image were used to thehilt . Tire imagery was sometimes riveting,but just as often exhausting . No matterhow accustomed one is to television com-mercials, scores and scores of imagesflashed rapidly upon the retina isoverload- JC1aRFlF: Forman

Tone Roards a t thn es confusing,always ire taresting

By RICHARDBARRETT

ForThe New MexicanTone Roads West, a

festival dedicated to po-n

etry and music, present-ed four days and nightsof contemporary works

,r1 ending Sunday. Manyadjectives come to mindin trying to describe thisamalgam of mediums.But words like avant-garde, surreal, pop andfuturistic fail . Musical-ly, everything from min-imalist to 12th centuryorganum (polyphony)was represented.The works of Peter

Garland and JosephWeber, both pianists,represented the main-stream of contemporarymusic with roots in theclassical tradition . Thepresent style of this mu-sic is best described bythe word "minimal ." Ashort- motive or subjectis repeated (sometimesad nauseum) with slightchanges (variations)over an unspecified peri-od of time . This modularform can be very suc-cessful if the core sub-ject possesses . energyand an intrinsic qualitysuited to this style . Ifnot, it is no more inter-esting than shoppingmall music.Weber seemed to have

the best grasp of thisstyle. Wedding it to ear-ly forms of polyphonyand variation (he has avast knowledge of his-torical musical style),he created in his work"Labyrinth," a set ofvariations with tremen-dous energy .His 1983 work for solo

organ, "Fantasias, or-gana, Dances andHymns," show a greattalent for spontaneousvariation, so commonamong Baroque organ-ists, but today it is allbut lost . His keyboardtechnique, whether pi-ano or organ, is daz-zling.

Garland's work, whileincorporating the samemodular farm, is of amuch more somberform . Lacking the tech-nical brilliance ofWeber, they possesssubtle timbres attainedby sensitive instrumen-tion . His "Songs of Quet-zalcoati" used piano,harp and flute in a deli-cate evocation of themystique of Mexico .Poet Jackson Mac

Low performed, with in-strumental accompani-ment, a- sort of epicpoem called "Instru-ments." Both voice andinstruments combinedin alliterative form, notunlike that heard in theprimate or aviary houseof a zoo. Aggressivewords, full of innuendo,such as "cartel,""narc," and "coed,"gage this piece a humor-ous quality not unlike aMarx Brothers film .His work, some call it

"artistic anarchy,"should not be confusedwith poetic text with mu-sical accompaniment,but more a pure explora-tion of sound for its ownsake . Instruments andvoice, losing . all commonidiom, become one, nei-ther dictating to theother.Charles Amirkhanian

and Carol Law collado-rated in the most inter-esting of mixed ,.medi-ums. Electronic sound,words and slides joinedin surreal images, attimes frightening, attimes funny. Whetherone can call this "art" isanother matter . Thatone can call it a superb

Music review

representation of ourage is beyond doubt.A few Rorschach im-

pressions follow : "Dogof Stravinsky," a parodyof primal dog music ;"Andas," childhood ga-rage haunted houses ;"Dutiful Ducks." a sat-ire on committees ; "Hy-pothetical Moments," amacabre portrayal ofthe masses ; "Awe," aparody of astroiogy ;"History of Collage,"capsulated history ofpedantic art ; "Mahoga-ny Ballpark," social al-ienation ; "Church Car,",the monotony of life in amachine age.

This festival, if attimes confusing, was al-ways interesting . Mypreconceived notions ofperformance and "art"were at times manifest-ed as prejudice, but this

is to be expected fromsuch radical styles andforms .

If this festivalachieved nothing else . i twas to make one thinkand ponder our immedi-ate world. A trait con-spicuous by its absencein the 20th century.

The writer is musiccritic for The NewMexi-can.

Council for the Art's 'Tone Roads West'

Program Offers Some Powerful MomentsBy DAVID L. BELLJournal Correspondent

one Roads West," last week's four-day

~1

symposium of poetry and new musicsponsored by the Santa Fe Council forthe Arts, was sufficiently serious to

deserve serious attention .

The series was informed by an energetic andconstructive emphasis on human interaction and onart as process rather than product.

There were high points of performance in video,music and poetry reading. And there was a pervasive,well-intentioned ideology about the affair that ex-tended through art into politics to create a sense ofinvolvement and commitment on the part of artistsand audiences alike .

On the other side, there was the hermeticism thatso often accompanies the avant-garde . More thanonce, labored poetic and musical passages seemed toconvey nothing so much as a reinvention of the wheel.

And the shadow of political "a priori-ism" occa-sionally appeared to have had a stifling effect on thecreative impulse, which functions most productivelywhen the outcome is least predetermined .

"The Commission," a video "opera" by WoodyVasulka that opened the series, had its own plusesand minuses . Based on a historical episode involvingthe famous 19th century composer Hector Berliozand violinist Niccolo Paganini, it sometimes followedand sometimes strayed from its story line .

The "plot" involved a prestigious but fraudulentcommission offered to Berlioz for a composition . Theoffer was ostensibly made by Paganini but in fact byBerlioz's publisher as a publicity stunt. Such avehicle might lend itself to the intense and romanticexamination of human character that characterizesmuch traditional opera .

But the overall philosophical effect was more akinto the nihilism of punk art .

That is not to say that emotion was omitted . Rather,

JOURNAL Nf)RTII Wc[Inv.,Aaf, March 23, 1983 D-5

Tit was invariably qualified so that enigma oversha-dowed affirmation or resolution. Yet there werevignettes of great power, some of them involvingPaganini and his son, played respectively by ErnestGusella and Ben Harris .

Visually, the high points of "The Commission" layin Da Vinci-esque figure compositions on a grid, andin the electronic pointillism of landscape settings.

It may be that the apparent emotional hedging ofthe work had to do with the "experimental" nature ofits structure . There seems to lurk behind theprofessed experimentalism and deliberate rawnessof the video format a highly sophisticated visualaggressiveness nutured by exposure to commericaltelevision .

If "Tone Roads" video was tough as art, its musicwas no less so . Peter Garland, composer and musiccoordinator of the event, noted in the program,"ToneRoads (West or East): They may be a hit rough orrocky, but it is where they take you that counts . Andon . the most interesting ideas, one may just have tothrow away the maps."

French composer Claude Debussy neverthelessserved as mapmaker or guide to one of the series'

most effective musical composers and performers,Joseph Weber, whose untitled work for piano ex-pressed a humble and honest, but not derivative,emulation.Weber's "Labyrinth," also for piano, had the power

of understated progression, while a longer piece fororgan, "Fantasies, Organa, Dances & Hymns,"seemed never to get anywhere - in the manner of awarm-up exercise . Once again, one sensed a holdingback, a reluctance to take the leap and offer theresolution . .Of the poetry readings featured by "Tone Roads,"

it needs to be said that the power words may havewhen savored in solitude, or shared in the intimacy ofa coffee house, bar or bookshop, is considerablydiminished by presentation in an auditorium topersons seated on wooden benches .

One poet intvDduced a work with the comment thatit would take 10 minutes to read, and it seemed to take20 . Liveliness of pace is essential to public perfor-mance, and only poets who read well should do so .publicly .

Nor can paucity of vocabulary or image beconcealed by an expressive voice . Content anddelivery alike must be strong for a successfulreading .

All criteria were more than met by Carolyn Forche,whose work was introduced with the apt observationthat it shows "no seam between the personal and thepolitical ." In her El Salvador poems - "San Onofre,California" and "To Victoria Champagne" ---- Ms .Forche demonstrated the unifying and healing powerof a view of the human condition that contains equalparts of compassion, protest and humor.

The closing performance of "Tone Roads West"was an intermedia work by Charles Amirkhanian andCarol Law . In its voice-on-voice passages, its "snorescore" and its evocative juxtapositions of pedestriansounds and images, it certainly had its moments -some of them just right and others overly prolonged .By its title, "Hypothetical Moments," it seemed tosum up the events of the four days that hadpreceeded it .

REPORi1NG THEARTS ~ l

`New Music' Sern. anticsBy JACK KOLK.`IEYER

The 1980s may well be known one day asThe Age o£ Categories or The Era of Isms. Itseems of paramount importance now thateverything be labeled, boxed, stereotyped orcategorically put in its own special niche.And nowhere. perhaps, is this "categoricalimperative" more vigorous than in the fieldof music, Just look at the genres classical,pop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, punk, country-Western, heavy metal, techno-pop, proto-ounk, new wave . easy listening, salsa, reg-gae, rank . Motown and jazz. t o name a fewbut barely scratch the surface .This subject . the classification of musical

;enres . came ap Last weekend in regards to.hat strange beast known as New Music.Tone Roads West, a four-day marathoncelebration of poetry and New Music soon.cored by :he Santa Fe Council for the Arts,brought together some of :he biggest na-tional tames in -New Music-Malcutm Gold.=;vin, Charles Arnirkhanian and Carol Law-acrd some of Santa Fe's most prominent

_ New Musicians-Peter Garland- JosephtVeber, Jack Loeffler, Jack Briece and JackFishman. At the same time, a New Musicianof a different stripe, Charlie Sexton, pagedwith his group The Eager Beaver Boys atClub West . The happy coincidence of thesetwo events provides an opportunity to tackleonce again that perpetualque8tiom what isNew Music?For some reason, the term New Music is

coming moreand more into vogue . General-3y, it is used to refer to music o£ the event-garde, whatever that is . Scholars consciousiv creating new musical modes, and ethno-musicologists discovering esoteric musicalforms itt the world's backwaters . have bothbeen called New Musicians. How can thesediverse activities be encompassed by a singleterm, New Music? [Though to take the termac its literal meaning, any music new to ourears--be ii punk rock, new wave or reggae-should be considered New Music, but thatwould include, for instance, even Nigerian'juju' music, which is, in fact, very old.)Therefore, just for the fun of it-and torecognize those new music forms that havenot beets dignified with the rubric New

Forche : The death of apathy

Music-I have came up with two subclamifi-cations for New Music: Popular New Musicand Classical New Music.Popular

Newiiusic is social: it is music

for work, play and dancing. Although it canbe complex- it is not intrinsically intellec-tual . It is folkloric in origin, the music of thecommon people. When this ethnic music isbrought to the attention of another vulture,it becomes New Music. [Past examples ofsuch New Music would be the blues, jazz,rack n' roll, sales, reggae, rumba, tango,suretsa and high life-the list is infinite.] Acurrent example of this fusion is the newwave group Bow Wow Vow, which makesuse of Burundi drumming styles and mixest'.tiem with rock 'n' roil . la addition, these"borrowed" musical forms can undergo fur-ther evolution in their newly found land .An electrifying example of the vitality of

Popular New Music could be seen last week-end at Club West, with the appearance ofyoung guitarist Charlie Sexton .At 14 . Sexton has already mastered many

popular rock guitar styles, and he is destin-ed to become a true innovator in the worldof Popular New Music. His influences areclear, and he speaks of thein with under`standing. They include Carl Perkins,Johnny Burnette, Hound DogTaylorandBoDiddley, among others- (These are some ofthe same composers szrd performers whosesounds ]reaped create the music of ElvisPresley, theBeetles and the Roiling Stories,)Sexton is evolving rock 'n' rob ia a freshway, though he still pays homage to its oldprinciples .And this is the same dynamic at work in

Classical New Music: Take the old tools, ur-stxuments and ideas and find somethingnew to do with them. Classical New Music isbased on an established set of artistic stan-dards and traditions-one of them beingthat music is art, something to listen to andconcentrate on . Often, too, Classical NewMusic is associated with an institution or amovement, be it a school of music or aschoolof thought. And Classical New Music,regardless of its content or presentation .almost always uses 'classical' msttutaents-the piano, the violin, the sitar, the kora orthe koto. These fundamental principles a¬

ly STEPHEN LONG

Beginning-at the least--with the Viet-nam years, political-activist poets have tend-ed to be more activist than poetic. Recount-ing grisly details of multitudes of atrocities,these poetslost much of theireffect throughseeming to be hyperbolic, or, to bastardizeYeats badiv. coo much of their sorrow madea stone of our hearts . However. Carolyn For-cite, who spent two years in El Salvador andescaped four attempts on her life by Salva-doran security forces. likewise escapes theatrocity litany, the trap of the political-activist poet-The Santa Fe Council for the Arts' presen .

tation, Tone Roads West, brought Forche totown for two days. Within a span of littlemore than 24 lours, Forche made four ap-pearances: a lecture on El Salvador: a poetryworkshop for women inmates at the statepenitentiary ; a lecture on exiled Salvadoranpoet Claribel Alegria: and a reading fromher award-winnin8 second book of poetry,"The Country Between L's .'To be sure . Forche spoke of her share of

horrors. a s she had been instructed by :'marfriend Joaevhine in a poem called Return :'. - . Go trx, on . Americans your long, duil

6torv f of corruption . but Setter ""-a give +them what they want: Li1 Vila gn Ramirez, f

Amirkhaniaa in front of a Card Law image:

Classical

New Music

were prominently -displayedat ToneRoads West last weekend,Malcolm Goldstein's performance of

;' Soundings for Solo Violin" last Saturday inthe St . Francis Auditorium was both an ex-ercise on expanding violin technique and astudy in violin tonality. What Goldst~� nnreally prated was an idea about thenature of the instrument, and he did thiswith a great deal of enthusiasm and clarity-Goldstein has worked moodyin NewYork

during the past 20 years, . and his musicpossesses a distinct urban intensity. It flowsrapidly along classical violin traditions-Irish at one moment, Bulgarian at another .The solo piece began with long, sustained

notes that were at once pleasant and stri-dent- The middle section focused on the

who after years of confinement did notfknow what veer it was, how she walked fwith help and was forced to shit in public . fTell diem about the razor, the five wire, f dryice and concrete, grey rats and above all fwhofucked her, how many times and when ."Forche not Only re-creates the experience,

she creates a context, most often the un-flinching memory of the victims or thewitnesses .Her lecture on El Salvador Friday night

focused most closely on her particular area ofexpertise-the Salvadoran security forces.Pulling no punches in her denunciation ofthe leaders, she spoke in a carefully enunci-ated prol ,, ted whisper whose nearly poeticcadence was filled with urgency . Listenersleft St . Frances Auditorium stunned ; not bythe atrocities, but by the manner in which,heir own lethargy-and ultimately theircompiicmty-had been stirred .Saturday morning at the penitentiary .

Forche again spoke of the passivity that hasbecome part of :he American character . "I:save a sense that . on the whole, Americansare verv moral people who want to do theright :ping- But :hey tees Fxiwer!ess, they_-eel totally removed from he decision-making process in Washington-

-,When I first went to Salvador. i felt thatway, too. But the people told me I was

A tribute to the potential of `New Music'

(Continued on Page 24)

(Continued on Page 24)

more energetic and repetitive possibilities ofthe violin . This diffused into a reverberatingand melodic conclusion. What Goldstein wagin the panes of doing was di-vertag the .other sounds a violin can make, creating anewrole for a classical instrumentOne of his other presentations, 'Th0

Seasons ; Vermont" was less sucoessfuf.Perhaps because it came across so severely.Or perhaps because the taped sounds. thataccompanied it were too loud.'The Seasons : Vermont' was performed

by Goldstein on violin; Jack Loeffler ontrum pet, recorder and steel drams : JackFishman on flutes; Peter Garland playingvibes. drums and gang ; and Jack Briece onorgan. Though they seemed to play well

The Poetics ofPoliticalCommitment

wrong- It is only because we believe that wehave no power, that we actually don't haveany. The powers that make the decisionsthat we silently oppose. rely on thatlethargy and passivity," she remarked .Forche urged the women at the peniten-

uary to write, to express themselves-notonly in poetry, but in stories or journals.`You have a wealth of experience," she coldthem, "that might make people understandanother side of life ."The 32-year-old Forche has been express-

ing herself in writing since she was 9. Theoldest daughter in "a cool-and-die family"inDetroit, she was essentially apolitical untilher trip to El Salvador. And that only cameabout when, after translating Alegria'stmetry into English, she was visited by theOlder woman's nephew. who was an "nutaf-hia,inind revolutionary, and convinced herthat a Poet could have some impact on theworld. ,What I experienced timers invadedmy poecrv . Now '. go ',o Central Americawhenever I think 1 can get awaywhit if;' shesaid .Much of her time in this country is spent

lectunng wherever she is invited and lohbv-ing in Washington against unconditionaiaidto the Salvadoran government. But she in-sists that it is the poetry reading and nother

`New Music."(Continued from Page 21)

together, many o¬ the_ group's sma e~sounds and tones could not be heard well .But when they could be, the music theyplayed proved to be rich .The four seasons have always been a

favorite classical theme, and certainly aneasily understood subject . Perhaps this pieceneeded to venture further into the experi-mental possibilities of the instruments beingplayed. Still, there was a great deal ofmusical restraint on the part of the musi-cians . Nevertheless, it was an interesting in-volvement of local musicians with aClassical New Music performer of nationalsignificance.On Sunday night, Charles Amirkhanian

and Carol Law closed the New Music portionof Tone Roads West, and it turned out to bea fitting tribute to the brilliant potential o ¬New Music . Though they fracture almost allof the rules, there remains a refined, classi-cal undertone and motivation to their work .

`their collaborative effort, "HypotheticalMoments," was, without doubt, a tour deforce. Both visually and vocally this

Commitment(Continued from Page 21)

politicking that has the greatest impact forchange . "Peoplewhocome to the lectures arealready interested in Salvador . But thosewho come for the poetry are often peoplewho know nothing about Salvador."Almost like a challenge, she added, "You'll

see it this evening: The poetry reaches peo-ple in a way that talking about my experi-ences can't."That night she was introduced by local

poet Arthur Sze, who organized the poetryprogram of Tone Roads West . Casual andconfident, Forche read a few announce-ments before beginning in a s[artlingly con-trasting mode-after 24 hours ofutter seri-ousness, she revealed a sparkling sense ofhumor.Introducing the first poem, "As Children

Together," she recalled her well-endowed,French-Canadian adolescent friend, VickiChampagne (she promises that's her realname), a girl who dated servicemen because.she got blue airmail letters from them anddidn't have to do anything with them." (Lakemost of Forche's work, this poem is concern-ed with memory.) Forche ends the poem byaddressing her French-Canadian girlfrienddirectly : "If you read this poem, write tome. I I have been to Paris since-.we parted ."Her audience firmly in tow, Forche then

turned to the Salvadoran poems . Reading, orspeaking from memory, she intoned herpoems in the same slightly theatrical voiceof the previous night's lecture . She seemedto be letting each individual person in on avery intimate secret .What she had said that afternoon was

true : Her poetry was even more effectivethan the lecture . People didn't applaud-itwould be like applauding a prayer-nor didthey even turn to their companions to speak .Instead, they accepted the relationship theyhad been drawn into between the poet andthe listener, as Forche made tangible forthem the pain of a war-torn country .Before bracketing her Salvadoran poem

with another upbeat one, she offered a chill-ing non-Salvadoran poem, "Ourselves orNothing." Speaking for herself and the au-dience, she described the plight of the in-dividual who chooses to became involved :"There is a cyclone fence between I ourselvesand the slaughter and behind it 1 we hover ina calm protected world like I netted fish, ex-actly like netted fish . I It is either the begin-ning or the end I of the world, and the choiceis ourselves I or nothing."Like Salvador to her, Forche's poetry had

invaded our lives.

U. S . Poet SpeaksOn Life, in SalvadorBy MARIA HIGUERAJournal Staff Writer

SANTA FE . - Carolyn Forcheleft El Salvador in 1980, afterescaping an ambush by threemachine gunnersandother threatsto her life.

Her Salvadorean friends, amongthem Archbishop Oscar Romero,urged her to leave the country tosave her life.

Ms. Forche, 32, a poet andjournalist, bypassed El Salvador inJanuary during a trip to CentralAmerica.Says Ms. Forche, who now lives

in New York: "I'm not a guerrilla . Ican see that I'm most effective as awriter, as an artist, as someonewho can serve as a witness. Dead,I'm useless."Shearrived in Santa Fe on Friday

to take part in Tone Roads West, afestival of contemporary poetryand music that runs through Sun-day at St. Francis Auditorium.On Friday she lectured on El

Salvador. Today at .3 p.m., she willdiscuss her translations ofSalvadorean poetry. She will readher own poems at 7 p.m .Much of Ms. Forche's work,

including a memoir in progress, isinspired by events in the tiny,war-torn country. She spent nearlytwo years there, from 1978 to 1980,developing what she calls "a fo-cused obsession."In January, she went to Mexico

City to comfort an exiled friendbecause her two teen-age daugh-ters had been picked up and tor-tured by government police, Ms.Forche said .The girls, 15 and 17, were rela-

tively lucky, Ms. Forche said. Theysurvived.Several of Ms. Forche's friends,

including Archbbsshop Romero,were less fortunate . The archi-bishop warned her about her safe-ty a week before he was killedsaying mass .Of Romero, she said, "I knew I

was in the presence of a saint."Ms. Forche, an estranged Roman

Catholic, said, "The faith of Salva-doran Catholics restored me. I met

and knew those who have sincebecome martyrs."

Military aid, such as the Reaganadministration's latest request for$110 million, can only prolong theviolence, she said . .

"I don't think a military victoryis possible," she said. "The cost inhuman lives would be unimagin-able."Since she can't realistically ex-

pect military aid to be cut offcompletely, she said negotiationsshould be a condition of any in-crease .Her recent lectures focus on

corruption in the Salvadoran, mill=

"The institutionalized corruptionof the military should be of con-cern to Americans, because of themillions of dollars we funnelthrough it," she said .She can rattle off examples to .

illustrate her point . For instance,she told of a colonel who wasarrested by plainclothes police-men in New York for trying to sellthem 10,000 machine guns . "Ileave it to people to figure outwhere the machine guns came- .from," she said .Ms . Forche's articles have

appeared in The Nation, Ms., The : .Progressive. and The American _Poetry Review.Her first gook of poems, Gather-

ing the Tribes, won the Yale Youn-ger Series of Poets Award in 1976 .She has since received fellowshipsfrom the Guggenheim Foundation

.3and the National Endowment forthe Arts .Her poems have appeared in the

The New Yorker and AtlanticMonthly.

pQ,A poet first, she said she became

~'ajournalist in El Salvador: "What Iwas witnessing made me feel themoral obligation to report it. Ididn't think it could be done inpoetry ."She describes her upbringing in

Detroit as patriotic, Catholic and -working-class. Once she startedcollege, during the Vietnam War,her politics changed to becomewhat she calls, "morally basedpolitics."

0

4kI

O

Composer Maicolm Goldstein

Y1l

Periurwaacc arlist Ankirkhaniau

i

RIEPORIFING THE ARTS

M

Artfest for the Avarlt-Garde'.Here in Santa Fe we've got fvstivais for

everything: for olrera, for chandwr music,fur theater, for It](! visual arty, fnr filkn[loththe Hollywood and independent varieties]and dance. Any art form, it seems, as lcmg anit's "safe," accessible, reassuri11g, rink-frmanfl glvetl tile nod of approval by highbrowculture: vultures and academically trainedcritics, car. find favor in Santa Fe-The question that tile Santa Fe Council for

tike Arts is now asking, however, is this : Cana four-day fF;otlvjrl o£ avant-garde or politi-cally inspired art--consisting mostly of newmusic, poetry and performance-find favoria the same town thaLSUpports ale opera anda chamber music festival? Will the samepeople that flock to hear Stravinsky andCopland rush off to hear Jackson MaCIA)W,

Malccm Cloldatein, Charles Amirkhanian,Carol I,aw, Carolyn Furche and a pantheonof local talents?

lJnfcrrtunaWly, tile Council wont knowthe answer trt this question ukotiI its £eStival,Tone Rowdy West: Poetry am NewMusic, is over, sonketime late Sunday night .13kktil then it can ordy hope that SantaFearkaare going to welcome tile chance to see someof tile most important, innovative new nhuai-ciatls and poets in tile country perform to,gelher in a loosely structured way that en-caurages the exchange of ideas .Tune !loads West, whose title comes from

a particularly evocative Charles Ives compssitimr, `Tome Roads," was tike brainchild ofSuzanne Jaknison, adntluistrator of the San-ta Fe C011rkL11 for tile Arts and overall coor-dinator of the festival, which will run fromThursday, Mardi 17, ti) Sunday, March 20,in the St . Francis Auditorium- "The ideawas to provide a structure that would bringtogether exceptional, creative people and letthem interact with each other," Jamisonsaid-

watch the dynamics take place!"Santa Fe has long been a center of new

music, thfknks to the work of coknlxruer,musician and music publisher Peter Garlandausl conkpu- Joseph Wel.er, GardnerJencks, Tom Ela-lich foul others, and it hasbeen home for poets fnr the past :ill yekfrs.Thefestival, Lion, is really a call for national

luminaries and local talents W "collie(t)gether ."The local poets who are answering this call

are: Arthur Sae (Who also is funrtunuing astile festival's poetry coordinator], JohnHrandi, Mei-Mei 13ersaenbrugge, Joy Harjo,Floyce Alexander, Jimmy Baca, Sinhan Or.tie, Luci Tapahonso, Carol Cellucci, bbaknldLittlebird, l .eo Romeru acid Nathakkie1 Tarn . .The New Mexico new music scene will berepresented by Garland (who is the musiccoordinawr of the festival) and JosephWeber.'1'he rutfionaily acclainhed artists whorespuuded to the call are the poets JacksonMacLow and Carolyn Furche, romlf-erMaicokn Goldstein and performance artistsCharley Arnirkharlinn and Clrrul Law.

Furche, a journalist and burnan rights ac-tivist an well as n prwL, has traveled extcn,sively in El Salvador, translated tike poetryof Salvadoran poet Claribel Alegria, andtestified before Amnesty International andtile International Commission of Jurists onhuman rights violations it, that troatkladcountry- Her fiat book of poetry, "Gather-ing of tile Tribes," wan the Yale Series ofYounger Pacts Award in 1976 . Her secondwork, "The Cnurktry Between Us," dealingwith El Salvador, ranks ns one of the "'cutdiscussed volunlos of poetry in years .Writing in the February issue of AmericanPoetry Review, Sharon Iluubiago said of'"Pile Country Between Us": "This is a poetryof terrible witness" In addition to herpoetry reading with Jackson MacLow ei .Saturday at 7 p.m ., Furche will also deliver afree public lecture on El Salvador on Fridayat 7 p.m .Macf .ow, now 60, might be called the

grand old map of the early-60s avant-gardepoetry scene- He is credited with giving im-petus to the Fluxua Movement in literatureby publishing "An Anthology" in 15163- Inthe late '60s he participated ia the c:reationof computer-IINSiated poetry for the art andtec:hoology program of Like I" AngelesCounty Musuenh of Art. Ibis innovative ex-peritaents with chancrelanguage, so renkini8-cent of the work of the dadaists of the '208,are exemplified in "22 Light Poems." His

moat relent works are "lielxesentative rnWorks" and "From Pearl Harlmr Day toh'hl(s Birthday ." MacLow, who had per- ;formed with .30!01 Cage, will be seen this °'weekend with composer MalcOlm Goldsteinon Friday at 8:15 p.m. On Sunday, he SlidGoldstein will conduct a discussion . Poetryand New Music Collaboration . at 2 p m,Goldstein is one of the fnrernastcomlx)Wr w

and violinists of the avant-garde today . lieh:n1 been active, nkustly in New York, sincethe. early '60s and has pioneered new perfor-maroce tectkniqucs amd inspired new itrkpro-visational attitudes in music . Besides ap-pearing with Macl .ow in concert Fridaynight and in discussion with him Sundayafternmon, Goldsein will premiere a newwork with an ensemble of Santa Fe nkuxi ,clans called L"rile Seasons : VermontiWinter,VermontlSpring" on Saturday at 9:30 p.m,The te<fm of Charles Amirkhanian and

Carol [,aw will round out the Iistof guest ar-tists- Amirkhanian, long-time "ionic die- .fnr o£ radio station KFFA in Berkeley,Calif ., is the cnurktry's leading "textsound"composer, n genre that combines theelements of musicand poetry, Am irkhania11mixes verbal information with tape loops,rouititrack recording techniques and digitalmodulation to procluce startling aural im-ages . IIis pertiler, l.aw, works as a visual ar-tist--ikkdecd, she's !wen called one of themost unorthodox and exciting visual artistsin the Bay Area-and in involved in lorint-making, blueprinting and the use of colorcopiers . In he "r work with Amirkhanian, l,awwilt create r1kobile images by manipulatinga3 ides, prnlecWrs alld a slide-dissolve unit ofher own desigir- This duo will wind up thefour-day festival with a program tailed"Hyputhctical Moments," which wilt be per.formed at 8:30 p.k n. Sunday-A series ticket forall 12 concerts, readings

and discussions costs $:30- Single tickctv,which will only be available at tike door, willrange in price from $4 W $8, depending nnthe lkature of the event. The $30 series

. ticket, however, will not cover the slx.cialbenefit premiere of video artist WokxiyVasulka's video opera, "The Corrlmissifill, "which will be shown at 7.'"10 liar- at C-6-Rein Gallery, Tickets for this event are $8 .For tickets or more information about TaleRoads West, call the Santa Fe Council furthe Arts at 988,1878 .

Poet-activist criticizes

Salvadoran marsBy ROBERT STOREYTheNew Mexican Staff

Opponents of a Reagan administrationplan to step up military aid to El Salvadorsay they may not be able to block the in-crease but hope Congress will reduce theamount and require negotiations withrebel groups ."We know there is a difference between

what people believe morally and, whatthey canachieve politically," said human,rights activist and award winning poetCarolyn Forche on Friday evening."Personally I would like to see all aid to

the Salvadoran government stopped over-night, but that is politically impractical.What we'd like to see and what we think isachievable is a requirement on the aid bill

that the government be required to nego-tiate," she said .Forche said that when she was in El

Salvador she witnessed brutality, oppresssion of the peasants and government cor-ruption .

,She lectured to about 120 people gath-

ered in the St . Francis Auditorium in anevent sponsored by the Santa Fe Councilfor the Arts and the Santa Fe chapter ofClergy and Laity Concerned .Her hour-long lecture was part of Cen-

tral America Week, a nation-wide obser-vance whichbeganFriday .Forche said the major problem in El

Salvador, which is locked in a bitter civilwar, is that the corrupt government is runby a small military clique .

The current struggle has cost the livesof ,at least 40,000 civilians caught in themiddle between' might-wing militarygroups and guerrillas, she said .A few years ago, the Salvadoran officer

corps numbered only about 5,040, out of anational population of about 5 million.However, most presidents elected in the

past 54 years have been backed by themilitary ."You need to understand that it is not

the individual personswho are in office orwho are in authority who run El Salvador,it is the system which runs the country,"Forche said .A military background and attitude is

instilled in El Salvador's ruling classfrom early childhood, she said . After at-

tending military academies where earlyties and loyalties are established, El Sal-vadoran officers may serve for 20 years ina carefully controlled and developed sys-tem before receiving their chance at pow-er .Forche claimed that for the past 20

years, military. leaders have been siphon-ing off both economic and military aid fortheir own use. They also have developedan -extensive system of corruption de-pendent on . continued U.S . aid, shecharged_

"I've talked with many different Amer-ican advisers in Salvador, and many ofthem have the attitude about the govern-ment that they may be bastards , but atleast they are our bastards," she said .

If you're one of millions who havecome to regard television as the mosttrivial of media, Woody Vasulka mayopen your eyes to its creative potencyin the hands of a true craftsman.His new video opera, The Commis-

sion, received its world pre"'_"-"e nesday at the C. G. Rein Galleryin a benefit performance for the ToneRoads West music and poetry festi-val.The opera, a true collaborative cre-

ation, recounts the macabre story ofPaganini in his last years. The epilogue tells of 30 subsequent years be-fore his shabbily embalmed bodyreaches its final resting place .The textual music of Paganini and

Berlioz was created andperformedby Ernest Gusella and Robert Ashley,respectively .Our physical revulsion toward these

gruesome details is mitigated by thehumor of Ashley's marvelously irre-verent recreation of Berlioz, whichhesomewherebetween Sam ErvinandBob Dylan. Gusella's Paganini is atortured, Christ-like figure who com-municates through his 10-year-oldson, placidly portrayed by BenHarris .TheCoinmlssion is a powerful, ex-

quisitely crafted work. I doubt thatmany of Wednesday's audience of 125will soon forget Paganini's bizarretale, and some of us are hungry toknow more.

El Salvador strifefocus of poet's lecturePoet Carolyn Forche will give a freelecture at 7 p .m . today on the currentbloodshed in El Salvador .

Carolyn Forche

Her talk in the St . Francis Auditoriumof the Museum of Fine Arts is beingco-sponsored by the Santa Fe Councilof the Arts' Tone Roads West Festivaland by Clergy and Laity Concerned .

Forche's latest book of poems, TheCountry Between Us, grew from herexperiences as a journalist andhuman rights observer in'ElSalvador . She recently returned froma month in Central America .

On Saturday . Forche will lecture onthe work of Salvadoran poet ClaribelAlegria at 3 p .m . and will read fromher own work at 7 p .m ., also in St .Francis Auditorium .For information, call the ArtsCouncil at 988-1878 .

,-;.

Festival celebrates poetr;,P By JON BOWMAN

The New Mexlcan S1alfoetry is seldom viewed as apublic art .W e go out to concerts,

films, plays and dance performances,but usually stay at home, next to ablazing fireplace and a bottleof wine,when we're in the mood for poetry.Poets themselves are seen as kin to

hermits . Same may scribble theirlines at the total bistro, but in the pop-ular view, the best poets work by can-dle-light in the wee hours of the night,closed off to theworld .

Tone Roads West, sponsored by theSanta Fe Council for the Arts, proba-bly won't change all our ingrainedstereotypes about poets and theirwritings .

It promises, however, to be Ehemost visible, public celebration of po-etry yet to be seen in this town .The four-day festival, which opens

Thursday . also will expose SantaFeans to a wide range of new Ameri-can music, the kind often said to be onthe cutting edge .The seed for Tone Roads west was

sown a year ago when five regionalpoets and Santa Fe composer PeterGarland joined together for a publicpresentation at St . John's College .

Calling themselves "the VerseSquad," the poets found they hadmuch in common with Garland.Through the collaboration, their poet-ry and music gained a new, shareddimension - and a wider audiencethan either might receive alone .Tone Roads West also will be a joint

venture, but on a much grander scale .Twelve New Mexicopoets and two

prominent poets from out-of-State -Carolyn Forche and Jackson MacLow - will participate in the festival,based at St. Francis Auditorium .Composers will have strong repre-

sentatton, performing their ownworks in nightly concerts . In somecases, poets and composers will sharethe stage, attempting to meld wordswith music .Suzanne Jamison, executive direc-

tor of the Arts Council, said the festi-val will be the first in Santa Fe - andone of only a handful anywhere- tocombine the two art forms-" It iust seemed to me it was time to

do something like this - to put thedifferent people together and see howthey develop," she said .Another goal of the festival, she

said . i s to allow area poets and com-posers to rub elbows with more wide-ly-known artists from outside NewNl ex ico ."When you bring in people from out

of town, that's a valid thing to do,"she said . "But when you bring peoplein . there needs to be a way far them tointeract with the people in the town,so when they leave, they leave some-thing behind ."Although Tone Roads West will ex-

plore the links between poetry andmusic . development of the festivalprogram was entrusted totwo people,representing each of the featured artforms .2 . Friday :-Mar; 11 ; 1983

Tone Roads Westpoetry coordinator ArthurSze

IP---L-

,Wusic coordinator Peter Garland, left, with composer Joseph Weber

new musicGariand served as music coordina-

tor and Arthur Sze organized the poet-ry events .Gariand said the festival- with

five concerts planned aver its four-day span- will offer "the biggestamount of contemporary music I'veever seen in a small spaceof time inNew Mexico ."The emphasis will be on non-com-

mercial and experimental music, in-cluding two nights of art ginai worksby Garland and Santa Fe composerJoseph Weber . In addition, concertswill be given by corn poserlviaiinist.Malcolm Got dstein of Vermont, poetMac Low and San Francisco-basedperformance artists Charles Amir-khanian and Ca roi Law . (see accom-panying schedule for times andplaces) .

Garland described Goldstein as"one of the premier violinists of theavant-garde" and a champion of im-provisational playing techniques .

Goldstoin's first appearance at thefestival will be next Friday, March 18,when he will perform with MacLow, aclose friend .

Goldstein's majorconcert will benext Saturday, March 19 . At thattime, he will direct an ensemble ofSanta Fe musicians in the weridpremiere of his The Seasons : Ver-montlWinter_VermontlSpring, whichhe has been working on for more t bana decade . He also will perform hissolo piece Marln'n-S)ng, 11Jurninatedand a piece called Soundings .

"It's going to be a very ambitiousprogram," Gariand said .Amirkhahian and Law will close out

the festival next Sunday, March 20,with a performance of theirwork, Hy-pothetical5foments .Gariand said the performance will

involve not only IIve music, but theuse of multiple projectors, tapedsounds and other media . " It sort ofcrosses overthe realm into perform-ance the:.ter," he said .

Sxe said the poetry programs willbe equally eclectic, bringing togetherpoets from different ethnic back-grounds with varying styles and con-cerns .

"I think there's a lot of strong poet-ry going on and it's multi-cultural,"he said . "Myover ail goal was to drawon the talents in New Mexico . Ratherthan think of them as individual voic-es, I wanted to piay different writersagainst eachother. I think there'smare music in that ."The festival will open Thursday

with a poetry reading, involving Mei-Met Berssenbrugge . John Brandt, JoyHarjo and Sze, all working in New,Mexico .Two other readings will feature po-

eis from the state . On Saturday,March 19, Floyce Alexander, JimmySantiago, Simon Ortiz and Luci Ta-pahonso will join together . The lollow-in g day, a caliective reading will begiven by Caroi Ca]lucci . Harold Little-bird, Leo Romero and NathanielTarn ."Most of us know each other," Sxe'

said . "I tried to select the best as well

as a few voices I think deserve to beheard ."The visiting poets participating in

the festival -- Mac Clow and Forche- will make several appearances.

Forche, who formerly lived in Taos .has traveled extensively in El Salva-dor as a journalist and human rightsadvocate . Her book of poems, TheCountry Between Us, whose imageryis rooted in Fore he's Salvadoran ex-

periences, was the Lament Selectionof the Academy of AmericanPoets In1981 .V1 ac Low has been a poetic Innova-

tor for years, experimenting with thechance use of language, distortion ofsyntax and blending of poetry withother art forms, including dance, mu-sic and painting . His major appear-ance here wtII be his collaborationwith musician Goldstein .

Cosimo Corsano as The Mortician in Woody Vasulka's video work le ~

E perimental video operato be unveiled at benefitTheComm ission. a

long-awaited video operaby Santa Fean WoodyVasulka, will receive itspremiere Wednesday asa benefit for Tone RoadsSVest, the poetry and newmusic festival .The video work will be

shown at 7 - 30 p .m . atC .G . Rein Gallery, 122W . San Francisco . Tick-ets are 58 .Vasulka will be joined

oy poets and composersparticipating in ToneRoads West at the ,how-:n2 . .Uterwards . refresh-ments will be served .

The Commissio n is anexperimental work, in-sp~red by a historic eventInvolving the Frenchcomposer Hector 3erliozand Niccolo Paganmi --superstar violinist of the:9th century .As the video opera un-

folds . a fraudulent com-mission is given to the

then-unknown Berlioz . Itis supposedly from Pa-ganini, whom the com-poser, adores . In fact . thewhole deal is a publicitystunt staged by Berlioz'spublisher .The Commission

delves into Paganini'sextraordinary life andbizarre character . Thework is not strictiv a his-torical narrative . howev-er . At times, A takes adecisive turn toward theabstract .The cast includes local

and national figures .Composer Robert Ashleyportrays Berlioz, whilevideo artist FrnestGLiseIle appears as Pa-

On the coverThis week's cover was designed by. Mona Kay

using a Marcia Mikulak photograph of BradfordSmith's sculpturelset for woody Vasulka's videowork The Commission .

ganim and Ben Harris ashis son . Cosimo Corsanoplays the Mortician andAndrea Harris is heardasThe Voice .The Czeehoslovakian-

born Vasulka and hiswife and co-worker . Stei-na . produced The Com-inission with funding as-sistance from the Na-tional Endowment forthe Arts and New MexicoArts Division .The two are pioneers

in experimental video . Inthe 19608 . they foundedThe Kitchen in NewYork . one of the coun-try's most widely knownalternative performingspaces .

Frnit-dad Tone Roadsa,f'irst,f'or .Santa FeHere is the schedule of events for

Tone Roads West, Santa Fe's firstjoint poetry and new music festi-val . All events will take place at theSt . Francis Auditorium, exceptwhere noted . Tickets are $4 for po-etry readings, $5 for concerts and$2 for lectures, available at thedoor . Series passes also may bepurchased for $30 bycalling theSanta Fe Council of the Arts, 988-1878.

Wednesday, March 16

Woody Vasulka's video operaThe Commission will receiveitspremiere in a benefit for thefestival, 7:30p.m., atC.GReinGallery. 122 W. San Francisco.Admission $8 .

Thursday, March 17Poetry reading-- featuringMei-Met Berssenbrugge, JohnBrandt, Joy Harjo and ArthurSze, 7p.m .:Vew music concert- Storks bySanta Fean Joseph Weber,ineludingLabyrinth and anuntitled piece for solopiano andthepremiere ofFantasies,Organa, Dances and Hy-nsfortheSt. Francis organ .

Friday, March 18Lecture - on El Salvador bypoet andhuman rightsadvocate Carolyn Forche. Co-sponsored by Clergy andL4ityConcerned . 7p.m . Free.Performance - Poet JacksonMac Law accompanied byviolirisl Malcolin Goldstein,8 :15p.m .Vew music concert - Works bySanta Fean Peter Garland.including Three Dawns, TheSongs of Quetzalcoatf andMatachin Dances, 9:30p . in .

Saturday, Alarch 19Poetry reading -- featuringFloyceAlexander, JimmySantiago Baca, Simon Ortiz andLact Tapahonso, 1p.m .

Lecture : Caroyin Forche willdiscuss the workofSalvadorean poet ClaribelAlegria, 3p.m ., in the Museumof Fine Arts ConferenceRoom .Poetryreading - featuringCarolyn Forche andJacksonMacLow, 7p.m .New music concert - MalcolmGoldstein with ensembleperforming The Seasons :

Sunday, March 2V

VermontlWinter, VermontlSpring, Soundings andMartn'sSong, Illuminated.

Discussion - a poetry and newmusic collaboration. withMalcolm Goldstein andJackson MacLow, 2p.in ., intheMuseum ofFineArtsConference Room .Poetry reading- featuringCarol Cellucci, HaroldLittlebird, Leo Romero andNa thanielTarn, 6p.rn,Newmusic performance -Charies Ainirkhanian andCarol Law will do HypotheticalMoments, a performance pieceusing tape, music, text,projectors and an ensemble,8:30 p.m .

Violinistlcomposer Malcoim Goldstein,e~o

~~

' °' PA SA7IEMROr

3

ALB 8RN4L~ C

Arts-EntertainmentFriday, March 11, 1983

Sculpture/Set in `The Commission'

Malcolm Goldstein To Lead Musical Ensemble ; Some Say He's 'Reinvented Violin Playing

`Tone Roads' Lead To Creative EncounterTone Roads Rest : Poetry and New ]Soshc, will take place at St.Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe. Starch 1'-20. Tickers to individualevents are available through the Santa Fe Council !or the Arts, 104Washington Ace. A $A series duke[ is also available.

By K.C . COMPTONJournal Arts WriterFor four days 'his month, poets and musical

pioneers will converge in Santa Fe for what promisesto be a fascinating, if not necessarily sensible,convocation of the musical and literary."Tone Roads West : Poetry and New Music,"

sponsored by the Santa Fe Council for the Arts, willfearure poetry reading, new music concerts . iectuxesny poets and musicians of national and internationalreputation and the world premiere of a video opera .The festival will open with the premiere of "The

Commission," a video opera by Santa FelCxech videoartist Woody Vasuika. The opera, with sets designedby sculptor Bradford Smith and camera work bySteina Vasulka, is about a commission Hector Berlioz-eceived to compose a work for Pagaaini, and whichlater turned out to be fraudulent. (Did Verdi beginthus? Does this make sense? Does it need to?:Remember, this is opera.The fare being offered is a Duke's mixture of the

..middle and highbrow, with a heavy :eaning towardt e avant-garde. If Rudyard Kipirng is still yourfavorite poet and Lawrence Welk is your idea of theC"stir"-1mate musician, you may be i-i or quite anadventure. In fact . even :f e.e . cummings and Bartokare more your style, you may be in or a challenge .

hen Copland rs music firstcame out, the musicians looked at itand said it was impossible . Now,With thousands of performancesbehind them, it seems quiteacceptable."

Take for instance vioLinisvcomposer MalcolmGoldstein, He will direct an ensemble of Santa Femusicians in the world premiere ofhis "The Seasons:VermonluWinter Vermont/Spring."An article in The Village Voice stated that Gold-

stein had "reinvented violin playing." Whether that istrue is open to debate . A quicklook at the scores to hismusic leaves little doubt that he has, at least, added anew wrinkle or two to the art of writing musicalscores.His scores indicate rhythmic patterns, textures and

duration through a variety of symbols, such as a manof the rivers in his native Vermont which serves asthe musical score to "The Seasons."Music coordinator Peter Garand is a composer of

e!cpen ,nenW music himself and he ?airiy bristles atthe suggestion that such work may be intellectual

noodling . It is different, he will admit. But so, a fewyears ago, was Aaron Copland's music."One of the reasons it is hard to understand and

hard to play is that there is no performancetradition ." Garland said . "When Copland's music firstcame out, the musicians looked at it and said it wasimpossible . Now, with thousands of performancesbehind them, it seems quite acceptable."Experimentation seems to have less emphasis on

the poetry side of the program. Poetry coordinatorArthur Sze, himself the recipient of several awardsand fellowships, said he selected 12 New Mexicanpoets to read their work . The group includes NativeAmericans Simon Ortiz, Jay Harjo, Luci Tapahonsoand Harold Littlebird ; Chicano writers Leo Romeroand Jimmy Santiago Baca ; Chinese-American poetsSae and Mei-Met Berssenbrugge; as well as culturallyunidentified Nathaniel Tarn, Carol Cellucci, JohnBrandiand Floyce Alexander."Because we have a strong writing community

here, I tried to select people who represent thismulti-cultural group," Sze said. "one of the things Iwanted to do, because most of us are well known tolocal audiences and do a lot of solo readings, was topresent a group of different voices. So, instead ofhaving one poet read I am putting four together atone time and we'll play the voices against eac,nother."Political poet Carolyn Forchd is one of two

nationaiiy acclaimed ,poets who will participate in theseries. She has received fellowships from the Gug-

Continued an C--!

`Tone Roads' Lead

To Creative Encounter iContinued From c-I.

genheim Foundation andthe National Endowment forthe Arts and has published two award-winning booksof poetry, "Gathering the Tribes" and "The CountryBetween Us."

Fosch6 has travelled extensively in El Salvador as ajournalist and will give a talk about human rights. Shewill also lecture on the work of Claribel Alegria, aSalvadoran poet, and read her poetry .

"Carolyn Forchd is a good strong voice," Sze said . "Ithink she will add a lot of dimension to this . Theotherguest poet, Jackson MacLow, is a composer andperformance artist as well as a writer. He was pivotalin thus event because we aren't just doing a poetryfestival or a music festival.

"We are going to have music mixedwith poetry andperformance, and then people who are interested inpoetry might have a chance to hear new music andvice :versa- And since MacLow has been doing theseconcert and poetry readings for years, I feel he is sortof a '.bridge between the two."

MacLow, an experimental poet, is the only avant-garde writer among the poets. The musicians andcomposers, however, more than make up for thepoets' traditionalism .

"My idea in selecting the composers andmusiciansfor `Tone Roads West' was to bring together half localand, half out-of-town artists to showcase the strongemerging local talent with recognized artists fromother parts o¬ the country. Part of my criteria was totry and select people who crossed the boundariesbetween literature and music," Garland said.

"For instance, Charles Amirkhanian uses textmaterial almost exclusively for his musical material .He works with tape recorders and instead of playingnotes on instruments, he uses bits of text and wordsto make music. Very much in the tradition ofGertrude Stein and some of the French Dadaists."

Amirkhanianand his wife Carol Law, a visual artist,work in a relatively new intermedia field known asperformance art. They combine music, slide projec-tors, lighting, tape recorders and sundry othermaterials into what the festival organizers say is "aclosing night spectacle."

~~

THE ARTSREP09211-1moAn Instrument of Infinite

By KEN AUSUBEL

Editor's nork: Santa Fe resident WoodyVasulka i ; a nationally known video artistand, aiong with his wife and co-workerStetna, is a pioneer in the-field of video art:and computer video. Born ;n Brno,Czechoslovakia, in 1937, Vasulka studied:ne " al "ec nologv and hydraulic mechanicsa: [':e state school of industrial eirgmeering .Then he entered the film-making program at-he prestigious Acaden:v of Perforrmng,Nrr: in Praeae where he hewin to produceind dir?tt short films . :n 1963 he emigrated

L- hired ta :es and worked in Newas :i free-lance filth editor for

":oral Years ."Lin t96- he began to experiment with elec-: :'nni+ ". sounds . strolrcscnnic lights and video .I : : : :]+ 1 i:e was appointed isanciate pro-rest ir in the Center for Nledi :t .Studies ;rt theState Lnivrrsity o: New York ac Luffalo . Atthis time he began his experiments with~, omputer-generated and computer-manipu-la[ed video images, which resulted in :he_fnnscruction of what has now become;howl as fhe Valsuika Imaging System .on Wednesday, March 16 . Vasulka's new-

est work . a video Opera titled "The Commi:s-sion . will receive its world premiere at theC.G. Rein [taller"." in Santa Fe . Based looselyon the life of Niccolo Paganini . the :egen-dare 19th,century vroiinist, "The Commis-aton' marks the first time that Valsuika hasapplied is video-imaging techniques to anarrative structure .The Collowii:q mteryiew seas excerpted

from a longer one conducted by Santa Fevideo-maker, Ken Ausubei .Ausubel: Were yciu aiwavs interested inmachines'Vasuika: My rather had a workshop andwas ,t metal worker. I-grew up during 'hewar in Czechosiovah[a. We lived across froman airfield- 1Iv Erst interest as a kid was tocake machines apart . I was lucky living cin~eto :: .̂e airport because I could take the mostcomplicated machines of that era--the Ger-man fighter pianos-and play with them ..,I v youth was spent in tnese graveyards ofairplanes . You could find everything therethat would drive your fantasy crazy, Furopewas a huge junkyard after the war: youcould find everything from human fingersto weapons in the dump, As kids. we roamedthrough ic . This basically set the scene-

Eventually I began cc realize-here Let meparap:race Korean video-maker Nam JunePaik-chat if You make a simple tool, you 1c

:: for a while like a child uses a simplethen throw it away . because you will

:utarovv' ;:.e challenge . But is you can makea coo! -.hat is infimteiv complicated- is will;ascmate you for the rest of your life . WhatF ":c been thing to do is to invent cools thatcontain more mystery than I could possiblyimaprr . That s what characterizes our het-[er ?ools-this ability "o be inspired. by thetool rather than being served by ic .Ausubel: How did you get into video?Vasulka: :"hat's a long story'- After the war.the arc scene in Czechoslnvaka was domina-ted by socialist realism [the officialCommunist Party sesthedc that forbade amstele of art or liturature that deyia[ed fromstrict rraiian: 'anti: marxls[ overtones[ . Any'notion of ally :cind of experimentation withmedia was looked on like a rntiotr of theav ant-garde of -he '20s- Though Live avanc-garde of chat time had been le[tis[ . by' the- :me.. I zrew up . the ieC' was alrea<ivbankrupt- I: was associated -r[h the mostreactconarv 7hott6 ".s and suppressed eaoen-menta[ion . i m ,eking :input 'rise C-7hsituation .

iL'e- as a a,, neru':un r~u in¢ up in a filmrm-ironmenc--like cbP silm sclrnni oi5rliicYts

A scene from `The Commission'; Vasulka fir1-set~ 'An image is an energy system'

I was a pnxiuct-were concentrating on theopposite of experimentation- We paid no at~tendon to what's called the 'medium-basisof information .' or undertaking a formal in .vesrigatiun of a medium for its own sake-We were interested in what ideologies areinterested in . which is larger mythologicalor narrative systems- As a group in filmschool- we followed the metaphorical ap-proach . %javbe ynti could disguise politicalopposition through metaphor .But when I came to the Suites in 1965 . I

disovered :here was a whole generation o£practicing film-makers called the structural-ists who paid close attention to what theEuropean avant~garde of the '20s did . Butthese artists extended much further the ideaabout the material of the medium itscif: filmsurface, motion, elements, informationwithin a frame. Suddenly- I came torecognize the materiality of the medium-.he medium has its own ;such .

Allthis

prepared me for video .Then, in 1969 . 1 began co experiment with

video in New York. About that time i ; hitme that :his is the medium in which Iwanted to work . I was interested :n :hisme viphysicaI Incept--[hat an image is anemerzz system .Ausubei'. What was the nature of your earlywork h i "h video? ..Vn,%ulka: The nature of our early work was

Video in the contextof art . "-Yen nowthere is

son- --- :gurauve or ^on represencational . 1Ve

still a debate on what :,'.r there is-intact.VC neratrd- --linage9

'.fire.-a9h=?f^rrrrsi~" :r" corn pur8rart . :Sometui~gPY, .Ypq .~pbyi~i

systems- We produced numerous tapes thatincluded this aspect of video-what somepeople call "abstract video-" But that is justa transposition of one aesthetic term fromabstract painting to this electronic environ-ment-Right

from . the beginning, we felt chal-lenged by television as a perception system .We werent interested in aesthetic results-You see, film travels at the rate of 24 framesper second, but with video you have 60"fields" per second . Video encodes . manymore changes than film, and you can builddevices that can wont with a single field.Ausubei: What . ''vas your role in thedevelopment of computer video?Vasulka: In the earlv'70s, we happened tobe with a group of people who were workingwith video, and they made an effort to bringvideo- and the computer into a union . 44'ehad only one way of doing it . We built aseparate small computer next to the generatepurpose computer, and we made a time-linkbetween them, in which they communicatedsynchronously . even that is not an in .nov:itive idea . because ics natural to these_ethnology systems to copulate .We defined a basic set or rules, and our

images were one of the first manifestationsof what is call[ a 'video art.' Our contribu-tion, really, -as to define the computer and

.,:, .,l~ontinued On Page 20)

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amazing video images are not the art- ainitiated but thane chat are mathematicallyor numerically initiated . Then I have to askmyself: Which one is the radicak image? Not,which one is the successful image?Ausubei: Some of your work appears to beSooking into areas of human perception and mCognition .

wVasulka: Yes. For instance, we found wecould f :nange the color of each video 'field'and create 'layers.' or what we called"perceptuai'y induced :nixes ." But there areocher perceptual iyscems and cognitive m-terpretattuns . We discovered that a par-6cular "vent, tike computer feedback, i!or-relates preceding and succeeding event; . Sowhen you rod one image with another cotn-ple:ely different image. - ou find out thatyour vision interprets them logically . Ac-tuallv, the images are cognitively inter-preter .

It's not. oni% discovering the materiality ofvideo or . its codes that. challenges us . but it isalso just ;i pleasure to see these images andthe changes in them .

-Ausubei: You're most often called a videoartist . 11o you accept that term?Vasulka: Vo. It's just a term through whichyou make a living . A long time ago, wedidnt need that term at all . "Video artist" ,already indicates a set of limitations . Lt'sbasically a marketing scheme . "Video art",was coined by the galleries because the)' hadto handle the product, out it really doesn'tmean much at all .Personally . its not -my ambition to be a

video artist . 1 -m ;ust very ~rateCul that Icould find some aredium in which t could bea practical philosopher . The other labels I'mpragmatic enough to use because- they raisemoney .usubei : What do you mean . by "practical

philosopher"?Vasulka: The whole idea of aesthetic termslike structuralism and philosophical termslike time and energy were rather abstract tome- Video is a medium that exposes you to aspecific problem of time and energy- Sud-denly. energy becomes a certain set ofbrightnesses and time becomes a location ofthat particular energy on the time raster,which is a frame in video . Suddenly, theabstract concept of lightor location of lightin time becomes extraordinarily practicable .Through this medium I could enter a prac-tical philosophy of time and energy as ameans of expres;ion-Ausubel: Then do you consider yourself anartist'Vasulka: In a way : duet think so- In myown personal terms, its not my ;imbicion, Inthe process of experimentation, there :iretwo results : Either itsucceeds Or it fails- Butart must succeed : there's no 'ailed art." Idon't want to live with the necessity o£ beingsuccessful . and that's what art is .Ausubei: So experimentation is integral toyour work?Vasulka: Yes- Yet 1 respect art, and all thevalues of my life have something to do withthat. if S would psychoanalyze myself, in-deed, I would urobably Find that at the bot-tom I have. some kind of desire to produceart. Yet consciously, I'm trying to walk the

' furthest. circle around art.People sometimes call my work "technolo-

gy' determinist." that is, no longeraesthecicabv driven- What i am driven by isa ['unosi[v about the medium . I do want to°ind out if there are any axles or patterns-.`tat video can create that sometimes harderon arc- but this is definitely not a part of anaesthetic system .Ausubel: How did you come to create yourvideo opera, 'The Commission'?

TONE ROADS WESTSanta Fe as a year-round music center is

growing by the proverbial leaps andbounds . What is most interesting and en-couraging about this development is thatmuch of the activity is composed, per-formed, and organized by 'ocal musicians,in the teeth, as it were, of Santa Fe's oftenspectacular but seldom indigenous Operaand Chamber Music Festival-Most active of the hometown types :s the

mdefatigabie Peter Garland, who a' 30 isnot only a composer and publisher o .Sou"Idinas . One of the most useful anddistinguished music journals in the world .

Vasulka: I wanted to work with the largersymbolic narrative systems that are in-tegrated into general cultural. archetypes,like opera . I asked myself: Is there an appli-cation o£ those primary video codes-whichyou arrive at by experimentation, investiga "tion or just pure visual joy-that you canpossibly apply to this more establishedgenre? This opera was a rather formal exer-cise for me in . which I took certain imagingstructures from past work and transposed .them into a narrative context.

Still, in the work I'm not really sayinganything through thought or conscious,spoken ideas ; the meaning of the opera isstill communicated in the sense of themedium . I don't like thought-producedmeaning ; I prefer an image-producedparadox that subverts thought. Perhaps theopera will work, perhaps not. That isanother question . It was done as an experi-ment.Ausubel: Much ofyour work in the past hasbeen done in the academic worlds in theEast . Now that you've come to Santa Fe, doyou see your work changing?Vassulka: As long as I was . involved in dis-covering or summarizing the phenomeno-logy of electronic imaging, I was able toteach . In many ways I was excited aboutteaching when I was discovering thosecodes . But when I moved on to application,innovation ceased and my involvement withmy work became more personal. This workcould not be communicated with such excite-ment because it became doubtful and inse-cure. When you start working, talking ortrying to impose on someone else your own

Woody Vasulka's video opera, "Thecreative dilemma, it's a brutal and oppres-

Commission," will be presented as asive act. I was totally absorbed in what I was

benefit for Tone Roads West, a four daydoing,

festival of poetry and new music, at theIn general, I don't like to work . I don't

C.G. Rein Gallery (122 W. San Francisco)want to get involved in any job, If I can

at 7:30 Am. on Wednesday, March 16.avoid -a job, I will . Not being involved in a

Tickets, which are $8, can be reservedjab is very natural where I come from . Here

_bsy-calling-988-1878 .A

Continued on page 22

Infinite Complexity

March, 1983 21

(Continued from Page 19)

NEWS continued :

but also organizer of Tone Roads WestPoetry and New Music, taking place inSanta Fe horn March 16 to 20 ;see tireARTImes Calendar for detaiis) .The music programs will be higaiighted

by the benefit world premiere of Tie Com--Mission, a video opera by Santa Fe'sWoody Vasulka- From the D1ary of onEdgewalker, Labyrinth, and a worldpremiere to be announced, all by localcomposer Joseph Weber, will be petforrr.-ed . as will compositions .^y JacksonMacLow and Garland, and a muiti-mediaperformance by Charles Arnirkhanian andCarol Law-Other Tone Roads West events :ncfude

poetry readings by Mei-Met Berrsen-brugge, John Brandi, Joy Hario . Arthur

in America there is a moral code that says ajob means dignity . The idea of being lazyhere is devasting . Where I come from, mostof the fairy tales are about lazy people. A lotof the state of well-being is based on beingextraordinarily lazy: To be able to sitwithout guilt and to stare into the sunsetand just be heated by the sun . That's permit-ted . Here, of course, one gets under the spellof the rush of society . In the early yearshere, I submitted myself to that wonderful .rush . Then I found out that it's not very in-teresting. So I'm trying to get away, as muchas possible, from phone calls-even fromgetting up from bed .Ausubel : Would you agree, then, with PaulLa Fargue, Karl Marx's son-in-law, that peo-ple have the right to be lazy?Vasulka: The whole idea about activity

and morality is very much a Westernthought: There's no relief for people accusedof being lazy. In my eyes, they are heroes .They submit themselves to the deepestpossible torture . Any activity takes you intothe area of optimism again . That's why peo-ple in the West like to travel or develop allsorts of activities : they hope to preventdeath, improve finances, become mentallymore healthy. True, it's profitable to be ac-tive, but . the opposite is much more challeng-ing.Coming to Santa Fe is a retirement from

my duties . I found out that this isn't a com-munity to compete in, but one to con-template . It's a privilege to be able to con-template your life, but it's more difficult tocontemplate than simply produce .

Sze, Carolyn Forche . Jimmy SantiagoBaca . Simon Ortiz . Carol Cellucci, HaraidLittlebiid . Leo Romero, and others .

In an unrelated musical Otfering,Caiiiornia composer Lou Harrison ;willbring his puppe! opera, Richard nit-;:ngton, Eo Santa Fe's Armory for the Artson March 10 and 11 . Harrison was doingpuppet opera .+-hen the Muppets were on-y a gleam ;n Jim Henson's eve . Garlandhimsel : pas written a puppet ;"nerrs aboutthe conquest of Mexico, w'nicn he hopes topiesen_ is 1984 .

la April . fashionable composer PhilipGlass will perform with an eight-memberensemble at Santa Fe's Lensic Theater onApril 14 .

A five-day festival to open in Santa Fe133 WILLIAM DUNN1:M ;Monitor CorrespondentThe voices of lilusiC arld

the music of Voices hlelld1his week ill aft umlsual antialllbitilms undertaking shoosexed by [tie Satita Fe C:oun-cil for the Arts ira the clipiIit1,

b1miding music and lxletry,Tone Roads West is the ti ,

tie cil this intense fivo,dayfestiv :,1 th,,1[ he5iils ~Yelflc" s

J'

tiOY avid Corltinu ::s tiirau0liSunday . For series ticket in-foril1 :llioli, you can Call 988-187k5, 't'ickets to single uvetitsare avail;iblc at tile loot' Oil-1". . Except for tale benefitopening event Wednesday,all porformances are In St .1"rancis Auditorium at theFine Arts Museurn ill 5alllaFe .Tone Roads West opens :it

:3U l1-ni .

Wedilesday vi i t1l

1iSl : emiere of a

ne.V

f(Winvideo opera . t t will be at theC .t~ . lieiri Gallery, 1'?'? WestSan Francisco, The work istitled "'1'fie Comnlissiori " ,and visas produced hy" WootlyVasulka,

the

Czech 1101,11vidoo producer- Vasulka,V,'hu works with his wifeSleina, prulers (lie tern) "ex-pr'.l-1nlC'rlfcr" to - vfcic°o zlr-list," nutilll ; that fist is notdal~la1'S SueCf'.55Ill1, f1115lends .1 certain air of exlaec:-[ation to Wednes(Uy's

premiere, The plot revolvesarom)(1 an incident ill thelives ~if cs)mposer Ilec[c>r13erlioz :anti violinist Nicolo1'ugaflini, Telephone thegallery tcf reserve a scat .Thursday and Friday's

programs iiegin at 'J p-ni . atSt . FranviN Auditoi'lilln- Apmetry reading by Mei-Meilierssonbrugge, John 13ran-di, Joy llarjo and ArthurSze, lwetry coordinator forthe clients- liegin theThursday events . A[ 9-30p,m- composer JosephWetwr will perform his Ilexmusic-, including , I preriIiere .He is supposed to perform onthe auditorium's McNarvorgan .Friday's ulferling event at

7 p-r11- is a free talk by poetCarolyn Forche about 1'lSalvador . Forclil- Is a

whose receill book, "Thel .ountry Between Us" is tbas-ed oil her him' 111 HSaly adur . At tt :1a p,nr, lwe[Jacksoll 1Nlacl .ow a1idviolinist Malcolm Goldsteinstart tile new music, to befollowed by Santa Fe Com-poser and Publisher PeterGarland . His Illuste is drawnfront Mexican mid NativeArner1Cun sources, afidso111etimes

rein im1s

thelistener

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c'arlns

{'ha sez .

Wt may exheel to hear11'lalcolm Goldstein it) tile-Malachin Dances" whichGarland dedicated to Iiiin-Un Saturday, a poetry

reading at [ p,ln- featut'esFloyce Alexauder, JimmySantiago [laca, Sil -non Ortiz,Mid 1 .11ci Tapallonso . At 3pill-, Carol y[I J'orchediscusses Salvadorean poetClaribel Alegria in theIIIueseutn's conferenceroom- 'then at 7 p.rn ,sheand Jackson h1acLoW' v''cadSome. tit their JAietry -in tileauditorium, Goldsteinpresents music it) a 9 :311 p .m .concert,On Sunday, last day of tile

festival, Goldstein findNlacl .ow talk about the fu-Siolf of poetry Slid rllusic intile conference room at Z1) . n" . Local poets CarolCi~litlcci, Harold Littlebird,l .eu Hom.cro and Nattlaniel7'arn react at G p .111- in [it(,auditorium, followed at Y :3Uvri . b,, Charles Amirklia .la1MI alld Carol Law wild itrlltrlti-media nova' musicwork, "hypotheticalAlvnlents-Some of tile tail; names in

current new music, like.Aniirkhaniml and Goldstein,will hcL joining; prominentlocals like Garland andWeber for the music-half of

this event, Poets like Forcheand F41acl.ow as %%-ell its soillebright names on the localset-lie, promise to make thisa heady blend of voice andVerse- it's good ill See Illefestival idea taking hold it)Santa Fe, itnd to see the Film,nlllsic and other eventsSpreading Out in tile caiell-dar-For a preview of sortie of

the music, you may Want togtt (lie recod, "Garland :MataChill Dances," a recordby Ronald i ricksoll, ,lcltirl'1'ermey, violins ; PeterGarland, gourd rattier, onthe Cold Blue label-1"-:G .These short dances . about

l8 lrlinutes total for the suiteof six dances, based on theanciEat Native American In .dian tradition, al- t il scihja "c-IiVe. sort )I I , ectcatimt of thetraditional sound- Except fortvvo of I lien), No, -4, thc" Dafweof llcalll, 's5'r'lttc'fi iri olemorVof John l-1trioli, and No . ,i .Cormvi, the Night ii1rd, [ho.";have vigoruils ddi11C'll1grhy'[hln that rilakes themCome alive it) the ear .

I foulld nly;elf LllinkingMore of Carlor: Chavez andtilexictm lrldialis than IlleNew NIL~kico vilrielv, dioughthere is a teeiing of homehere, ton, '1'ije perl'ornianceMight he llaore spris;h[ly,

and perhaps will be repeateilsomeday . Garland's musicdeserve:, more exposure= tothe fisterling lnifilic . Thisrecording was tnalh~ Jilrie 9,19151 at a San Fr:lncisco newmusic festivill-

Cold Blue Records of LosAngeles product- ,; a {:leansound in s[ereo, butllackagc ;s the records ill itsoft package that is hard todust , proof I a plastic cover orinnerjackei is a worthwhile .Idea . You call fret copies illthis record horn the coin-poser at his SoundingsPress, 9-t$ Canyon Road, orprobably during the ToneRoads West festival in SantaFe-

B-2 PRIME -FIMES, March 3 1983-

POETRY AND MUSK:

Four clays and nights of new music performanceand poetry . Presenting two nationally acclaimed poets,and also draws on some of New Mexico's best poets- Alltogether in Santa Fe, from march 17 thru 20th, 1983.

TONE ROADS WEST, brings together leaders inthe fields of sound/text composition, experimental poe-try and new music composition and performance . Bring-ing this many brilliant minds -tta=one stage will certainlyset the creative sparks flying . TONE ROADS WESToffers the audience a rare opportunity to be present atthe creation, to experience the dynamics of interactionbetween some of America's exceptional artist, writersand composers .

Undoubtedly one of tire main attraction" is tilereading of poetry and the seeking of Carolyri Forche°n human rights in El Salvador-

Carolyn Forche's firts book of poems, Gatheringthe Tribes, won the Yale Series of Younger PoetsAward in 1976 . Subsequently, she received fellowships

from John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts- As a journalist andhurnan rights advocate, she travelled extensively in ElSalvador between January, 1978 and March, 1980, Sheprovided documentation to international human rightsorganizations incirading Amnesty International and the,International Commision of Jurists. Her second book ofpoerns, The Country Between Us, was the Lamont Se-

-lection of the Academy of Arnerican Poets for 1981 .1

a - .was puhlished by Harper & Row with a s1~ecial edit;

r Yaurl,by Copper Canybn Press .

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