The Rhythm of Study

Sound Breaks Home                      Schedule                         Participants                         Outcomes

Wednesday, March 26 – “Sound Breaks! Break Stuff!” (open to Swarthmore faculty only)

This lecture by Professors Peter Schmidt (English) and Mark Lomanno (Music and Dance) will introduce the Swarthmore faculty to the Sound Breaks, preview its events, discuss the work and music of Vijay Iyer, and brainstorm themes and exercises for connecting ongoing course work around campus to the upcoming symposium.

       event details: Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall, 12:15pm

Monday, April 13 – Screening of Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi (open to the Swarthmore College community)

This 2013 documentary, directed by Prashant Bhargava with an original musical score by Vijay Iyer, was commissioned by Emil Kang, Executive Director of the Carolina Performing Arts, as part of a centennial celebration of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (1913). This event will coincide with a meeting of the Spring 2015 course Traditional Musics of World Cultures. For more information on the documentary, click here. To view a trailer, click here.

     event details: 4pm in the LPAC Cinema

Friday, April 17 – Class visits by visiting faculty (open to Swarthmore College students and faculty)

The visiting scholars will be joining various classes around campus, discussing the relevance of their research and the Sound Breaks symposium to ongoing curricular conversations.

          Vijay Iyer visits MUS 005C (Traditional Musics of World Cultures) in Kohlberg 116, 2-3pm

          Meta Jones visits ENGL 053 (Modern American Poetry) in LPAC 301, 2-3pm

          Omi Osun Jones visits DANC 049 (The Unexpected Show), in LPAC 2, 2-3:30pm

          Stephon Alexander lectures on “Was Einstein Right-handed?” in SCI 128, 4:30-5:30pm

Saturday, April 18 – Sound Breaks: Improvisation, Interdisciplinarity, and Social Action

9:30-10:30am – Workshop Session 1, Lang Music Building (open to Swarthmore College students and faculty)

1. “Making Theatrical Jazz: Black Theatre for the 21st Century,” Omi Osun Joni L. Jones (University of Texas at Austin), LMB rm. 407

2. “Five Issues in the Aesthetics of Jazz Improvisation,” Garry Hagberg (Philosophy, Bard College), LMB rm. 415

3. “Rupturing Solid Bodies: Emergent Understandings & Performing Scholarship,” Jumatatu Poe (Dance, Swarthmore College) and Mark Lomanno (Music, Swarthmore College), Lang Concert Hall

10:45-11:45am – Workshop Session 2, Lang Music Building (open to Swarthmore College students and faculty)

1. “Music as an Analogy for Modern Physics,” Stephon Alexander (Dartmouth College), LMB rm. 407

2. “Breaking the Sound Barrier: Improvising Visual and Verbal Poetics,” Meta DuEwa Jones (Howard University), LMB rm. 415

3. “Breaking Barriers: Gender Roles, Performance Conventions, and How Musicians and Dancers Improvise Together,” Rachel Carrico (UC Riverside, Dance Studies) and Kelly Powers (NYC-based pianist and composer), Lang Concert Hall

4. “Improv or Die: Organismal Development as Evolutionary Performance,” Scott Gilbert (Biology, Swarthmore College), Kohlberg 116

4:00pm – Interdisciplinary Roundtable Discussion, Lang Concert Hall (free and open to the public)

The Sound Breaks visiting scholars will join pianist Vijay Iyer and Professor Mark Lomanno for a review of morning activities and discussion of interdisciplinary applications of improvisation in education and social advocacy. For a complete list of participants, see the Sound Breaks participants’ page.

8:00pm – Double Concert – Vijay Iyer Trio and Tirtha, Lang Performing Arts Center (free and open to the public)

This concert features the Philadelphia-area premiere of Break Stuff, the new album by the Vijay Iyer Trio on ECM Records, and the first-ever double concert with the trio (with Stephen Crump and Marcus Gilmore) and Tirtha, a group that performs fusions of jazz and North Indian classical musics.

10:00pm-1:00am: Late night set and jam session, Rose Tree Restaurant, 1243 N. Providence Rd., Media, PA (free and open to the public)

Finish Sound Breaks with a late night session hosted by pianist Kelly Powers, her trio, and special guests.

Sunday, April 20 – Sound Breaks Concluding Brunch (private event)

This private event will allow the symposium participants to review the weekend’s work and plan future initiatives and applications at their member institutions and at Swarthmore College. This event has been funded by the generous contributions of the Frank Aydelotte Foundation for the Advancement of the Liberal Arts.