Gregory Oh, Pianist

National Post writeup of Music for 6008 Spokes

December 25th, 2008 § 0

Jun 7, 2008

Under a threatening sky, about 100 cyclists gathered last Saturday at the track field of King Edward Public School. They braved a downpour that held off just long enough for them to create a double-bill performance of Mauricio Kagel’s musical composition Eine Brise for 111 cyclists, plus Toronto choreographer Julia Aplin’s Bicycle Ballet, set to music by John Gzowski. The event, titled Music for 6,008 Spokes, was conceived by musician Gregory Oh for the SoundaXis festival of new music.

To open, an assortment of cyclists performed the experimental Eine Brise, which consisted of riders taking stately circles around the track to chants, whirs, ululations and, of course, bicycle bells, mixed with the sounds of passing airplanes, rising wind in the trees and ominous growls of low thunder.

The volunteer performers seemed to grow braver with each revolution; eventually adding whoops, snorts and operatic trills. The effect resembled some sort of alien whale song. The performers didn’t quite add

up to 111. “If you count tandems, I think we were close to 60,” estimated Oh. Nonetheless, he was “thrilled” with the results.

As the sedate ensemble pedalled off the field, they were replaced by a more energetic pack of 16 young performers from a troupe called DancESAtion, based at the Etobicoke School of the Arts. Dressed in an array of tutus, sequins, tiaras and pink wardrobe pieces, they rode their way through Bicycle Ballet. It resembled a cross between synchronized swim and the Mounties’ Musical Ride, with an interpolated bike-bell performance of the Blue Danube Waltz (spontaneously assisted by numerous audience members).

Although Oh won’t promise a repeat performance, he is contemplating further bike-related music projects: “Toronto is becoming more and more a bike city, so I think we’re going to be seeing more bike art.”

SoundaXis ( soundaxis.ca)continues to June 15.

Credit: Sarah B. Hood; National Post

Going on tour with Continuum, Nov 08

November 10th, 2008 § 0

I’ll be conducting Continuum on their upcoming tour of Europe, which should be plenty fun. We’re playing a kickoff at the music gallery on November 11th, and then we’re off to Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Huddersfield and a few other places inbetween. I’m especially excited about performing at the Muziekgebouw.

Nice mention in Toronto Star CD Review

November 10th, 2008 § 0

John Terauds of the Toronto Star gave me a nice shout out in a very generous review of the recent Centrediscs release, “So You Want to Write a Fugue”. This is a live recording of a concert that about ten pianists did at Glenn Gould Studio featuring ten newly commissioned works. I played a prelude and fugue by Andre Ristic that you can listen to on my A/V page.

6008 Spokes

April 4th, 2008 § 7

Hey everyone. Welcome to 6008 Spokes. This post will be edited many times as we get closer to the big day!

We are looking for 111 volunteers to ride in a piece called Eine Brise by Mauricio Kagel. It is not a difficult piece and you do not need to be a trained musician! What you do need to be able to do is:

1. Ride a bike safely at a fixed, leisurely pace in a formation.

2. Have a bell or horn on your bike.

3. Be able to whistle or make wind noises.

4. Be willing to sing – you don’t need to be able to sing in tune – and make noises.

5. Be committed to coming and riding on the 31st of May, a lovely Saturday afternoon, for a 3 pm concert with a rehearsal that will take place on the same day somewhere between 12-3. Probably 1 pm – this will firm up as we get closer.

6. Be willing to be filmed, recorded and/or photographed.

For those interested in riding in Eine Brise, a piece by Mauricio Kagel for 111 Cyclists, please email me. 6008@ the domain name you are currently visiting (gregoryoh dot com). If you can’t figure that out, write a comment with your email and I’ll send it to you.

You need to send me your name, your email and phone number. We will confirm via email/phone and send you some instructions closer to the day.

Anyone can come and play Terry Riley’s In C. Just bring an instrument or your voice if you wish, plus a copy of the music. You can find it in many libraries, or here is a link to the music (it is only two pages):

In C score

Thanks!

Greg and Sean

Q: Do you still need cyclists? A: YES!!!
Q: Is it hard? A: NO!!!! (5 easy instructions)
Q: Is it fast? A: NO! (easy, comfortable pace, riding in formation)
Q: Is Eine Brise a good piece? A: I have no idea…
Q: When is the rehearsal? A: Earlier that day – probably around noon or 1 pm.

Dear CBC…I’ve been thinking about you again.

March 9th, 2008 § 0

Dear CBC

Harsh words have been spoken since you announced plans to radically alter your programming strategy, including a significant reduction in classical music play. The requisite facegroup is already thriving, and people are talking smack about you. I wanted to let you know that I don’t think that cutting classical music is necessarily a bad thing, and that it’s not all your fault. Baby, we can still make this work.

Since even before the Chretien years, your budget has been hacked and slashed to bits. As taxpayers and voters, my friends and I are partly culpable here. More recently, we let Bev Oda and Josee Vernier (are they puppet cabinet ministers or are they just grossly incompetent?) bitch about your lack of accountability and relevance without coming to your defense. Bill C-10 is symptomatic of the Harper government’s unwillingness to engage the arts in good faith. I know you would be less inclined to throw around words like “ratings” if you didn’t have an unsympathetic government holding a gun to your head.

As others have pointed out, classical music is not the only provocative and sophisticated music thriving in Canada, and your programming should reflect this. In the Globe and Mail you argued that “only a tiny fraction – 0.8 per cent – of new Canadian songs get commercial radio play and that the Radio 2 changes will allow for much more Canadian music to be heard.” It really hurt me when you went on to name Joni Mitchell, Feist and Diana Krall as your new interests.

I think you are finding solutions to the wrong questions. You asked “How can we increase market share in the 31-49 group?”, and now are trying to fight the soft rock battle of the 401, which at best is a war of attrition. What you should have asked was, “What can we do better than anyone else that an iPod can’t?” That’s the biggest problem with the programming changes – I know you want me to listen, but Joni will always be better on my Touch.

Oh CBC – I just wish that instead of Feist, you would have said (Christine)Fellows. You’re the smart geeky kid, and you’re trying to be a cool preppy. You’ll never be hip as long as you need consultants to define the concept; by the time they write their report, it’s already so six months ago.

While acknowledging that change always meets opposition, Jennifer McGuire, executive director of radio, said that overall ratings haven’t dropped as significantly as anticipated, as some listeners tune out and new ones tune in.

My sneaking suspicion is that you’re not being completely honest with me. If you had something good going on, you’d be throwing it in my face. By the way, change doesn’t always meet opposition, and change isn’t always good. Nevertheless, I can read the writing – we’ll see each other now and then, but the thrill is gone. I should have seen it coming months ago – you don’t bring me flowers anymore…

BTW – don’t bother playing it for me – it’s already on my iPod.

(Link to a previous letter to the CBC in September 2007)