I have known Johnny Butler since college, where we both studied composition at Oberlin Conservatory. We shared the joys and pains of studying 20th-century post-modern chamber music and orchestration with a class of a dozen others.
However, both of us had other lives--his was jazz saxophone, mine was dance. Through various compromises we navigated our multiple interests. I was always in awe of Johnny's ability to synthesize his composition with the embodied practice of playing saxophone. Myself, I became more and more disenchanted with the cerebral task of writing chamber music at a desk, and fell farther and farther in love with dancing. In 2006, I found a way to fulfill my Conservatory ensemble requirement: I formed a group called Ensemble 46, which was lovingly adopted by my adviser Nusha Martynuk (who later brought Chris Aiken and Andre Gribou to Oberlin for a special workshop with the group). I would dance, Johnny would play, and we would all engage in the study scores for an interdisciplinary group.
The original group was: Johnny, myself, Matt Nelson, Andrei Pohorelski, Josh Morris, Lucinda Segar, Hannah Verrill, Sarah Hymanson, and Alesandra Zsiba ( later joined by Jake Wise). This group was the start of an exploration that has followed me to New York, and has inspired the creation of The Raw and the Cooked. This month, Johnny Butler's band "Scurvy" will be featured in full, performing scores with dancers, including Anne Zuerner, Leah Nelson, and Ava Heller.
However, both of us had other lives--his was jazz saxophone, mine was dance. Through various compromises we navigated our multiple interests. I was always in awe of Johnny's ability to synthesize his composition with the embodied practice of playing saxophone. Myself, I became more and more disenchanted with the cerebral task of writing chamber music at a desk, and fell farther and farther in love with dancing. In 2006, I found a way to fulfill my Conservatory ensemble requirement: I formed a group called Ensemble 46, which was lovingly adopted by my adviser Nusha Martynuk (who later brought Chris Aiken and Andre Gribou to Oberlin for a special workshop with the group). I would dance, Johnny would play, and we would all engage in the study scores for an interdisciplinary group.
The original group was: Johnny, myself, Matt Nelson, Andrei Pohorelski, Josh Morris, Lucinda Segar, Hannah Verrill, Sarah Hymanson, and Alesandra Zsiba ( later joined by Jake Wise). This group was the start of an exploration that has followed me to New York, and has inspired the creation of The Raw and the Cooked. This month, Johnny Butler's band "Scurvy" will be featured in full, performing scores with dancers, including Anne Zuerner, Leah Nelson, and Ava Heller.
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