Richard Bunger Evans
Encyclopedia
Richard Bunger Evans, also known as Richard Bunger, (born 1942) is an American
composer
and pianist
who worked with John Cage
and subsequently wrote "the classic book on John Cage," The Well-Prepared Piano. Evans has composed and performed music for opera
and musical theatre
, including works for the Bohemian Club
. During his 17-year career as a music professor, Evans was named one of two Outstanding Professors of 1981–1982 in the California State University
system. Evans continues to compose and perform in various musical genres.
and Oberlin College
where he obtained a music degree. Evans continued at the University of Illinois and earned a masters degree in music in 1965. He studied further at the University of Kentucky
. During his post-graduate studies, he taught at Queens University of Charlotte
in North Carolina
. In 1968 Evans accepted a position at Oberlin to teach music theory
. A year later, Evans moved to Los Angeles, California
to work as a jazz pianist. In 1970 he took a professorship at California State University, Dominguez Hills
(CSUDH). While at CSUDH, Evans wrote the music and helped write the lyric for the school's alma mater
, in addition to being named Outstanding Professor 1981-1982 of the entire 23-campus California State University system.
, encountering John Cage
in 1967. Evans studied Cage's early manuscripts and became expert enough that Cage asked him to edit some for publication, and to record performances of them. One such effort was a 1980 recording project at Capitol Records
that eventually resulted in the Richard Bunger CD Four Walls, but it was not released to the public until after 1985 when Cage allowed it to be made available; Cage had long considered these expressive pieces unrepresentative of his most influential avant garde work. Evans wrote The Well-Prepared Piano in 1973, a treatise on piano techniques for new music composition and performance with illustrations drawn by the author. Cage wrote the foreword to the book, which has been repeatedly referred to by avant-garde pianists as a "classic" in the field. As well in 1973, Evans performed and recorded a concert of avant garde solo piano pieces at Oberlin, including works by Cage, Henri Lazarof
, Barney Childs
and Charles Ives. Using manuscript fragments and notes, Evans reconstructed Cage's 1939 incidental music for Jean Cocteau
's Marriage At The Eiffel Tower. Evans toured extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s, exclusively performing music by 20th century American composers, from Charles Ives to Cage and beyond, always including lectures on the physical well-being of the piano in regard to challenging and potentially harmful avant garde performance techniques.
In 1973, Evans devised a way for pianists to hold their music while performing pieces that require the removal of the piano's traditional music stand. Evans called his invention the "Bungerack". Evans also invented a notational scheme called "Musiglyph", for unconventional piano compositions. Evans was invited to join Nicolas Slonimsky
, Dane Rudhyar
and others at the April 1973 music convocation called "The Expanded Ear", which culminated in the Six-Acre Jam, a piece in which 60 musicians played at various positions among the trees on a mountain slope. In May 1973, Evans performed live in the radio studio for Charles Amirkhanian
's Other Minds
radio program; Evans played compositions from Cage, Henry Cowell
, Harold Budd
, and E. T. Paull
, and a recording of his piano and tape
interpretation of a Morton Subotnick
piece.
rather than in avant garde.
. Evans wrote the music for his next Grove Play in 2007 to a libretto by Mark Cleary : Leprechaun.
In May–June 1994, Evans was the musical director for A New York Romance, a one-woman performance piece set in New York City
, sung and acted by Mary Setrakian. In 2000, Evans released the CD Midas & Marigold, A Family Opera, featuring music by Evans and book and lyrics by 'vid Buttaro and Squire Fridell
.
In November 2004, Evans took part in a collaborative composition and performance work called "Raw Impressions Musical Theater #1", with eight other composers. In 1995 Evans composed and recorded the music for the two-hour opera an oratorio based on the poetic works of William Butler Yeats
, Maude Gonne, and Padraic Pearse: The Rising, An Irish Allegory.
In 2001, Evans wrote the music for a performance of Thorstein Veblen
's The Theory of the Leisure Class
to a libretto by Charles Leipart
, that was presented by the National Association of Musical Theatres in New York City in 2002 and recreated as a vaudeville production produced by Stages 2006, staged at Kansas City Ballet. This musical was rewritten by the authors, retitled as The Price of Everything and produced during 2010 by the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, California
, directed by Nancy Prebilich.
Evans’ other musicals as composer include The Playboy of Balyduff, An Irish Musical Comedy, with lyrics by Kate Hancock and book by Hancock and Evans, based on the 1907 Irish comedy by John Millington Synge
; MIDLIFE! The Users’ Guide, a musical review with lyrics by Frank Evans and additional lyrics by R. Evans; and The Golden Touch, A Family Musical, with book and lyrics by Maryrose Wood, commissioned by the International Institute of Vocal Arts and first produced in the Theatre at Riverside Church (NYC).
In 2009 Evans was commissioned by the West Bay Opera to create Enchanted April, A Lyrical New Musical, based on the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
. Evans in turn commissioned Charles Leipart to write the book and lyrics. The initial Industry Presentations of Enchanted April, directed by Annette Jolles, were produced at the Chelsea Studios in NYC in March 2010, and starred Rebecca Luker, Jill Paice, Robert Petkoff, and George Dvorsky.
and a lifelong dancer; Blake Lowrey-Evans (b.1981), a composer and jazz guitarist; and Beka Lowrey-Evans (b.1984), a student, singer and avid Bikram yoga practitioner. He is married to Debra Wakefield Evans, a television editor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
who worked with 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...
and subsequently wrote "the classic book on John Cage," The Well-Prepared Piano. Evans has composed and performed music for opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, including works for the Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
. During his 17-year career as a music professor, Evans was named one of two Outstanding Professors of 1981–1982 in the California State University
California State University
The California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
system. Evans continues to compose and perform in various musical genres.
Early career
Evans was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and, enrolling as Richard Bunger, studied at Lafayette CollegeLafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
and Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
where he obtained a music degree. Evans continued at the University of Illinois and earned a masters degree in music in 1965. He studied further at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. During his post-graduate studies, he taught at Queens University of Charlotte
Queens University of Charlotte
Queens University of Charlotte is a private, co-educational, comprehensive university located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school has approximately 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students through the College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, the Wayland H. Cato, Jr. School...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. In 1968 Evans accepted a position at Oberlin to teach music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
. A year later, Evans moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to work as a jazz pianist. In 1970 he took a professorship at California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Dominguez Hills is a public university located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County and was founded in 1960...
(CSUDH). While at CSUDH, Evans wrote the music and helped write the lyric for the school's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, in addition to being named Outstanding Professor 1981-1982 of the entire 23-campus California State University system.
Prepared piano
While using the name Richard Bunger, Evans became very interested in the techniques and performance of prepared pianoPrepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
, encountering 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...
in 1967. Evans studied Cage's early manuscripts and became expert enough that Cage asked him to edit some for publication, and to record performances of them. One such effort was a 1980 recording project at Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
that eventually resulted in the Richard Bunger CD Four Walls, but it was not released to the public until after 1985 when Cage allowed it to be made available; Cage had long considered these expressive pieces unrepresentative of his most influential avant garde work. Evans wrote The Well-Prepared Piano in 1973, a treatise on piano techniques for new music composition and performance with illustrations drawn by the author. Cage wrote the foreword to the book, which has been repeatedly referred to by avant-garde pianists as a "classic" in the field. As well in 1973, Evans performed and recorded a concert of avant garde solo piano pieces at Oberlin, including works by Cage, Henri Lazarof
Henri Lazarof
Henri Lazarof is a Bulgarian composer.Born in Sofia, Bulgaria his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a short stint in Rome, Lazarof settled in the United States, studying with Harold Shapero and Arthur Berger at Brandeis University...
, Barney Childs
Barney Childs
Barney Childs was an American composer and teacher.Born in Spokane, Washington, he taught and composed avant-garde music and literature at universities in the United States and United Kingdom.-Music:...
and Charles Ives. Using manuscript fragments and notes, Evans reconstructed Cage's 1939 incidental music for Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
's Marriage At The Eiffel Tower. Evans toured extensively in the 1970s and early 1980s, exclusively performing music by 20th century American composers, from Charles Ives to Cage and beyond, always including lectures on the physical well-being of the piano in regard to challenging and potentially harmful avant garde performance techniques.
In 1973, Evans devised a way for pianists to hold their music while performing pieces that require the removal of the piano's traditional music stand. Evans called his invention the "Bungerack". Evans also invented a notational scheme called "Musiglyph", for unconventional piano compositions. Evans was invited to join Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...
, Dane Rudhyar
Dane Rudhyar
Dane Rudhyar , born Daniel Chennevière, was an author, modernist composer and humanistic astrologer. He was the pioneer of modern transpersonal astrology.-Biography:...
and others at the April 1973 music convocation called "The Expanded Ear", which culminated in the Six-Acre Jam, a piece in which 60 musicians played at various positions among the trees on a mountain slope. In May 1973, Evans performed live in the radio studio for Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music...
's Other Minds
Other Minds
Other Minds is a San Francisco based private 501 not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992 by Charles Amirkhanian and Jim Newman...
radio program; Evans played compositions from Cage, Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
, Harold Budd
Harold Budd
Harold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
, and E. T. Paull
E. T. Paull
Edward Taylor Paull was a minor American composer, arranger, and sheet music publisher.-Musical Style:He had some success with a few titles which enabled him to set up his own self-publishing company...
, and a recording of his piano and tape
Tape Music
Tape Music is an experimental 10" vinyl release by Jack Dangers. The vinyl release was coupled with the album Sounds Of The 20th Century No2 when released as a flexi disc vinyl....
interpretation of a Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
piece.
Real estate
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Evans toured in support of music by 20th-Century American Composers. He recorded a complete album of prepared piano pieces Prepared Piano: The First 40 Years before 1983 when he decided to leave the field of music. Evans once again began to use his original surname, to become Richard B. Evans as he established a career as a real estate broker and developer in California. Evans wrote that he divides his career into three segments: pre-1983 involvement with academia concertizing, recording, and writing, 1983–1991 interest in real estate, and from 1991, a return to music, but in more traditional genres such as musical theatre, opera and oratorioOratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
rather than in avant garde.
Composer
From 1991, Evans concentrated on composing music in a wide variety of popular genres, especially art songs, choral music, opera, oratorio and musical theatre. For the 1991 Grove Play entitled Tyburn Fair, Evans worked with a libretto from Bohemian Donald L. Winks to compose the oratorio, performed in July at the Bohemian GroveBohemian Grove
Bohemian Grove is a campground located at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's art club known as the Bohemian Club...
. Evans wrote the music for his next Grove Play in 2007 to a libretto by Mark Cleary : Leprechaun.
In May–June 1994, Evans was the musical director for A New York Romance, a one-woman performance piece set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, sung and acted by Mary Setrakian. In 2000, Evans released the CD Midas & Marigold, A Family Opera, featuring music by Evans and book and lyrics by 'vid Buttaro and Squire Fridell
Squire Fridell
Squire Fridell is an American actor, perhaps best known for his infectious enthusiasm displayed in over three thousand television commercials....
.
In November 2004, Evans took part in a collaborative composition and performance work called "Raw Impressions Musical Theater #1", with eight other composers. In 1995 Evans composed and recorded the music for the two-hour opera an oratorio based on the poetic works of William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, Maude Gonne, and Padraic Pearse: The Rising, An Irish Allegory.
In 2001, Evans wrote the music for a performance of Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born Torsten Bunde Veblen was an American economist and sociologist, and a leader of the so-called institutional economics movement...
's The Theory of the Leisure Class
The Theory of the Leisure Class
The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions is a book, first published in 1899, by the Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen while he was a professor at the University of Chicago....
to a libretto by Charles Leipart
Charles Leipart
Charles Leipart is an award-winning American musical theatre bookwriter-lyricist and playwright. He was born in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University.-Works include:Mr...
, that was presented by the National Association of Musical Theatres in New York City in 2002 and recreated as a vaudeville production produced by Stages 2006, staged at Kansas City Ballet. This musical was rewritten by the authors, retitled as The Price of Everything and produced during 2010 by the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, directed by Nancy Prebilich.
Evans’ other musicals as composer include The Playboy of Balyduff, An Irish Musical Comedy, with lyrics by Kate Hancock and book by Hancock and Evans, based on the 1907 Irish comedy by John Millington Synge
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
; MIDLIFE! The Users’ Guide, a musical review with lyrics by Frank Evans and additional lyrics by R. Evans; and The Golden Touch, A Family Musical, with book and lyrics by Maryrose Wood, commissioned by the International Institute of Vocal Arts and first produced in the Theatre at Riverside Church (NYC).
In 2009 Evans was commissioned by the West Bay Opera to create Enchanted April, A Lyrical New Musical, based on the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
Elizabeth von Arnim
Elizabeth von Arnim , born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian-born British novelist. By marriage she became Gräfin von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and by a second marriage, Countess Russell...
. Evans in turn commissioned Charles Leipart to write the book and lyrics. The initial Industry Presentations of Enchanted April, directed by Annette Jolles, were produced at the Chelsea Studios in NYC in March 2010, and starred Rebecca Luker, Jill Paice, Robert Petkoff, and George Dvorsky.
Family
Evans has three children from his second marriage: Berklee Lowrey-Evans (b.1977) an employee of the non-profit NGO International RiversInternational Rivers
International Rivers is a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental and human rights organization based in Berkeley, California, United States...
and a lifelong dancer; Blake Lowrey-Evans (b.1981), a composer and jazz guitarist; and Beka Lowrey-Evans (b.1984), a student, singer and avid Bikram yoga practitioner. He is married to Debra Wakefield Evans, a television editor.
External links
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Professor Bunger with students (early 1980s)
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Professor Bunger receiving award (June 12, 1982)
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Richard Bunger plays piano (early 1980s)
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Professor Bunger at the blackboard (1982)
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Professor Bunger, seated, in group accepting Japanese music (early 1980s)
- CSUDH Digital Collections. Photograph: Bungerack - faculty invention (1973)