Student musicians at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took their musical improvisations to Krannert Art Museum on Saturday, Nov. 9, in a performance about how art can inspire sound.
U of I Assistant Music Professor Jason Finkelman teaches these students in the Improviser’s Exchange Ensemble. He said these musicians are always preparing, experiencing improvisation with or without a conductor.
“With Improviser’s Exchange, it’s more about playing with sound,” Finkelman said. “So there’s nothing you can do that is absolutely wrong. You can make decisions that are more complementary or more dissonant or more pronounced.”
Rachel Storm, assistant director of community engagement for Krannert Art Museum, said Finkelman has been producing experimental music shows at the museum for more than 20 years. She said witnessing the ensemble is a unique experience.
“There’s something really rich that comes forth when we invite different artistic mediums, different artistic practices to come together,” Storm said.
U of I music student Spencer Duman plays flute and ocarina in the ensemble. He said his performances varied significantly depending on the artwork.
“If it was more abstract, I found that I was making a lot more sounds imitating real-life sounds rather than more melodic stuff,” he said.
Christian Freehill, another U of I music student, plays upright bass in the ensemble. He said improvisation is an escape from monotonous practicing.
“Unlike any other ensemble setting where you have music or there’s specific technique, you bring to table whatever you have,” Freehill said.
In preparation for the event – that Finkelman calls “Sonic Location” – Finkelman assigned creative prompts based on the different art exhibits.
In one prompt, musicians presented a card to a viewer that read, “Would you like to hear a solo performance?” In another, musicians were instructed to perform a duet with Finkelman in The Rest Lab, which Storm described as a meditation on mindfulness and rest. The exhibit is composed of many leisurely activities and sitting areas as well as artworks with a calming tone.
“It began as an exhibition that would pop up in between shows when the galleries were otherwise ‘resting,’” Storm said.
Finkelman said one of his goals for the event was to incorporate these themes of wellness into the prompt-based score.
Musicians were asked to perform and hum for themselves in response to a video art installation of a mechanical chair that hugs participants as they sit on it. Finkelman said humming activates your body in a particular way that allows you to engage and relax.
“I just thought, ‘Oh , this could be a nice moment for somebody to center themselves with sound,’” he said.
For the finale, the ensemble performed together in the Rest Lab with a diverse array of instruments, from horn to melodica, ending on a unanimous hum. Finkelman invited viewers to turn their applause into music by conducting them to clap rhythmically and hum along with him.
The Improviser’s Exchange Ensemble plans to return to the Krannert Art Museum on April 5.