PRESS RELEASE:
The Third Annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival
June 4-7
at
21 Grand Art Gallery and Performance space
416 25th St., Oakland, CA 94612
Two years ago on June 5, bassist and composer Matthew Sperry was killed in a traffic accident while bicycling to work. Since then his many friends in the Bay Area music community have organized annual performances in his memory. This year, the Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival spans four evenings.
June 4 is experimental music titan Anthony Braxton’s 60th birthday. To celebrate, the sixty-member Triaxium West Large Ensemble under the direction of John Shiurba and Gino Robair, will perform works spanning the four decades of Braxton’s career, including many rarities.
June 5: Matthew’s friends pay him tribute with music from many small groups, culminating with a performance by OrcheSperry. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Sperry family.
June 6: an evening of live electronic performances curated by Lance Grabmiller, featuring:
- Phase Chancellor (M.C. Schmidt from Matmos with Nate Boyce from
- Men Against Mountains and J. Lesser from Sagan)
- John Bischoff
- Kenneth Atchley
- Matt Davignon and Lance Grabmiller duet
June 7: Johannes Bergmark and Friends
Swedish musician and inventor, Johannes Bergmark, performs on a variety of unusual instruments with local improvisers, including Gino Robair and Tom Nunn.
All events start at 8:00 PM. Admission is $6-$50, sliding scale.
WEB LINKS:
Matthew Sperry: http://matthewsperry.org/
Anthony Braxton: http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/braxton/
Johannes Bergmark: http://www.bergmark.org, http://www.bergmark.org/gall.html
21 Grand: http://www.21grand.org