ARTSaha!
Encyclopedia
ARTSaha! is Omaha's new music festival. Held in the late summer, it is an annual showcase of contemporary music and art that stresses interdisciplinary and collaborative projects. ARTSaha! is produced by ANALOG arts ensemble, a non-profit global collective of artists.
's The Rite of Spring
, a rare Morton Feldman
film score, and a concert of guerrilla electronic music.
ARTSaha! 2005 featured a production of Bach's Musical Offering where four ensembles performed the work simultaneously and the audience was able to create their own arrangement by moving between rooms. There were also outdoor performances of Alvin Lucier
's Chambers in Omaha's Old Market, and Karlheinz Stockhausen
's From the Seven Days
on the Gene Leahy Mall. The festival also featured the meta-opera Notes from the Next Dark Age
ARTSaha! 2006 highlighted the Samuel Beckett
centenary with a program of several short plays, including Quad, Nacht und Träume, Breath, Come & Go, Not I, Rockaby and Act Without Words II. This was the first year of production funding for some events at the festival, such as the reworking of Jean-Philippe Rameau
's The Festivities of Hebe
. Other events continued to be produced on a fringe basis such as a concert of electronic music in the Mallory Kountze Planetarium. 2006 also saw the establishment of a production partnership between ANALOG and the University of Nebraska at Omaha
.
ARTSaha! 2007 focused on Futurism
with only the fourth US performance of George Antheil's original soundtrack for Ballet Mécanique. The festival also featured a 24-hour performance of John Cage
's ASLSP, and the first Iron Composer
Competition, where five student composers had five hours to complete a score for woodwind quintet based on a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient was the main motif to the theme song for the TV show The Jetsons
.
ARTSaha! 2008 celebrated the 80th anniversary of Karlheinz Stockhausen
's birth. ANALOG gave the US premieres of Friday Greeting and Cosmic Pulses, the latter of which is the last piece of electronic music Stockhausen ever composed. The Iron Composer competition was won by Hermes Camacho, a composer from California and living in Texas. The instrumentation was piano trio and the secret ingredient was Monet's Impression, Sunrise
. Guest artists included Stuart Gerber (Stockhausen's last percussionist), Monument Piano Trio, dung, and the Microscore Project. The festival program also included several selections from George Brecht's Water Yam
.
ANALOG announced a hiatus for the festival in 2009.
History
ARTSaha! was established as a volunteer festival in 2004 by ANALOG. The first year featured a series of chamber music concerts with eclectic programs ranging from the Baroque to rock music. Highlights included a brass quintet version of Igor StravinskyIgor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
, a rare Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
film score, and a concert of guerrilla electronic music.
ARTSaha! 2005 featured a production of Bach's Musical Offering where four ensembles performed the work simultaneously and the audience was able to create their own arrangement by moving between rooms. There were also outdoor performances of Alvin Lucier
Alvin Lucier
Alvin Lucier is an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University, Lucier was a member of the influential Sonic Arts Union, which included Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and...
's Chambers in Omaha's Old Market, and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
's From the Seven Days
Aus den Sieben Tagen
Aus den sieben Tagen is a collection of 15 text compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in May 1968, in reaction to a personal crisis, and characterized as "Intuitive music"—music produced primarily from the intuition rather than the intellect of the performer...
on the Gene Leahy Mall. The festival also featured the meta-opera Notes from the Next Dark Age
ARTSaha! 2006 highlighted the Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
centenary with a program of several short plays, including Quad, Nacht und Träume, Breath, Come & Go, Not I, Rockaby and Act Without Words II. This was the first year of production funding for some events at the festival, such as the reworking of Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
's The Festivities of Hebe
Les fêtes d'Hébé
Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talents lyriques is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and three entrées by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Antoine Gautier de Montdorge...
. Other events continued to be produced on a fringe basis such as a concert of electronic music in the Mallory Kountze Planetarium. 2006 also saw the establishment of a production partnership between ANALOG and the University of Nebraska at Omaha
University of Nebraska at Omaha
The University of Nebraska at Omaha is a four-year state university located in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Founded in 1908 as Omaha University, the institution became the public Municipal University of Omaha in 1931. It assumed its current name in 1968 following a merger into the University...
.
ARTSaha! 2007 focused on Futurism
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
with only the fourth US performance of George Antheil's original soundtrack for Ballet Mécanique. The festival also featured a 24-hour performance of John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
's ASLSP, and the first Iron Composer
Iron Composer
Iron Composer is a music competition where five composers are given just five hours to write a piece of music. Originally organized as part of the ARTSaha! festival, it is currently held at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music in Berea, Ohio...
Competition, where five student composers had five hours to complete a score for woodwind quintet based on a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient was the main motif to the theme song for the TV show The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
.
ARTSaha! 2008 celebrated the 80th anniversary of Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
's birth. ANALOG gave the US premieres of Friday Greeting and Cosmic Pulses, the latter of which is the last piece of electronic music Stockhausen ever composed. The Iron Composer competition was won by Hermes Camacho, a composer from California and living in Texas. The instrumentation was piano trio and the secret ingredient was Monet's Impression, Sunrise
Impression, Sunrise
Impression, Sunrise is a painting by Claude Monet. It gave rise to the name of the Impressionist movement.-History:...
. Guest artists included Stuart Gerber (Stockhausen's last percussionist), Monument Piano Trio, dung, and the Microscore Project. The festival program also included several selections from George Brecht's Water Yam
Water Yam (artist's multiple)
Water Yam is an artist's book by the American artist George Brecht. Originally published in Germany, June 1963 in a box designed by George Maciunas and typeset by Tomas Schmit, it has been re-published in various countries several times since...
.
ANALOG announced a hiatus for the festival in 2009.
Festival Artists
- ANALOG arts ensemble - Producers and main performers at every festival.
- The Blue Barn Theater's Witching Hour - Performed Beckett plays in 2006.
- Julie Christensen - Painted a triptych during a 2005 festival concert.
- Jeff Boddy - Designed 2006 & 2007 logos. Animated 2006 trailer.