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First-year students鈥� class project included in New York Public Library exhibition

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

A video created by first-year students is gaining  as part of a New York Public Library about American composer John Cage.

鈥淚t's a huge honor for all of us,鈥� said Alex Kasznel 鈥�15, who created the video along with classmates Matt Schwartzman, Jennifer Azarow and Christina Errico. 鈥淭his was definitely one of the most rewarding projects I've ever done.鈥�

Developed as an assignment for a first-year music-history seminar taught by Associate Professor of Music Amy Wlodarski, the video chronicles two moments of Dickinson鈥檚 engagement with the legendary composer: April 8, 1970, when Cage visited campus to accept the college鈥檚 Arts Award; and November 12, 2011, when visiting musicians Third Coast Percussion marked Cage鈥檚 100th birthday by performing his works on campus.

Students in Wlodarski鈥檚 music-history seminar and students in Associate Professor of Music Jennifer Blyth鈥檚 music-performance seminar studied Cage throughout the fall semester. The performance students played Cage鈥檚 鈥淩adio Music鈥濃�攚hich uses radios, tuned to different stations, in place of traditional instruments鈥攁s part of the November concert, and the music-history students captured reactions to the work on video. Wlodarski鈥檚 students also filmed interviews with Dickinsonians who had attended Cage鈥檚 1970 performance on campus: President William G. Durden 鈥�71; former music major Joe Sobel 鈥�70, who had delighted Cage with a handmade instrument made from car horns; A. Pierce Bounds 鈥�71, who photographed the concert; and music professors emeriti Beth and Truman Bullard.

鈥淭he whole production went perfectly, and I was floored by the work that they put into it,鈥� said Multimedia Programmer Brenda Landis, who, with Multimedia Special Instructor Andy Petrus, taught the students to record and edit the video.

With permission from its creators, Wlodarski submitted the video, 鈥�,鈥� for inclusion in the New York Public Library鈥檚 鈥淛ohn Cage Unbound: A Living Archive.鈥� The digital collection includes manuscripts, texts, photos and videos of musicians, students and performers interpreting Cage鈥檚 music.

鈥淭he head of that archive noted not only the high quality of the submission, but also that it was the first student submission to the Web site,鈥� Wlodarski said.

Published May 7, 2012