JAVS Fall 1996

20

contemporary music until the moment they hear a performance of a new work they enjoy. Once the door to performing and listening to new music is opened, it rarely shuts thereafter, and the performer's and listener's musical lives are immeasurably enriched. A vast treasure trove of superb contemporary music for the viola is awaiting exploration. With a relatively small investment of time and energy in a new music performance pro ject, performers can and will reap rewards far in excess of the expenditure. -Violist Laura Kuennen-Poper is chair of the Instrumental Performance Program at the California Institute ofthe Arts and holds addi tional teaching appointments at the University of California-Irvine and the R. D. Colburn School ofthe Performing Arts. She is a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the CalArts New Millennium Players, and the Music Center Opera Orchestra. She and her husband Roy Poper recently presented the world premiere ofMaria Newman's Kestrel and Leonardo (for viola and trumpet} at the 1996 International Viola Congress in Markneu kirchen, Germany.

their bird's-eye view of a jungle of monitors, cables, speakers, computers, foot pedals, and what must have looked to them like a Star Wars version of a string instrument. I launched into a basic description of the mechanics of what they were about to hear and the nature of our collaboration. At the conclusion of the performance (which miraculously remained glitch-free), three seconds of dead silence were followed by almost raucous applause and cheering not only from our colleagues, but from the feared "blue-haired" ladies. We were swamped at intermission by dozens of elderly women wanting to know more about the computer, the instrument, the piece, and the composer, and expressing how much they appreciated the performance. Most significantly, they offered their thanks for the "little talk" that had helped them understand what was about to transpire. Even when a performance is excellent in itself, laying a foundation of common ground may be the single most important element in achieving a successfUl communication. There may always be performers (and audience members) who believe they dislike

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New Music Resources