"Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs and a Healthy Environment: An Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young" was created in 2011 as a parody of contemporary politics and politicians. The half-hour piece by Young and Pinto focuses on issues of immigration and national identity. The composers created the text, music and staging, scoring the piece for their own voices, violin, percussion, turntable and lots of cardboard boxes.
Malcolm GoldsteinVENUE LOCATIONS• Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave.• Chattanooga Public Library, 1001 Broad St.• Easy Lemon Loft, 1440 Adams St.• Folk School of Chattanooga, 1800 Rossville Ave.• Tanner Hill Gallery, 3069 S. Broad St.SCHEDULEToday, June 6• 5 p.m. Program by Michael Kallstrom and Ashley Hamilton at Tanner Hill Gallery, $5• 7:30 p.m. "An Evening With Malcolm Goldstein," featuring Ann Law, at Barking Legs Theater, $17 in advance, $20 at door, $10 studentsFriday, June 7• 5 p.m. Program by Jerome Meadows, Alyse Knorr and Aubrey Lenahan at Tanner Hill Gallery, $5• 7:30 p.m. "Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs and a Healthy Environment: An Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young" at Barking Legs Theater, along with regularly scheduled Wide Open Floor, $5Saturday, June 8• 5 p.m. Program by Julian Tan & Co., Meg Ronan, Tim Hinck, Kate Partridge, Dan Rosenberg and Lilly Brown at Chattanooga Public Library (fourth floor), $5• 7:30 p.m. Malcolm Goldstein directs the New Dischord Ensemble at Barking Legs Theater, $12 in advance, $15 at door, $10 studentsSunday, June 9• 5 p.m. Composer Nathan King presents a new work for four performers at Easy Lemon Loft, $5• 7:30 p.m. Cilla Vee Life Arts presents "Flux," featuring Tim Hinck and Aaron Cowan, at Folk School of Chattanooga, $5
The New Dischord Festival, a celebration of experimental art and music, returns to Chattanooga today through Sunday, June 6-9.
The 20-plus performers will draw from multiple mediums, including musical composition, 2-D, 3-D and digital art, theater, movement and poetry. Participants have been tasked with creating new work that calls upon a medium outside their usual discipline and to provide feedback on the works of others in the collective.
"These goals are rooted in a belief that our best work is inspired by -- and consequently challenged by -- real conversation in response to the latest work of our peers," says a statement on the website.
Among the highlights of the weekend are two programs with Malcolm Goldstein, a Brooklyn-born composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s.
A critic for The Wire describes his work as "true revolutionary music" and whose "fantastic virtuosity draws listeners into the complexity of his music rather than repels them." Stereophile has called Goldstein "one of the few composers who can consistently write totally abstract contemporary music that is both compelling and accessible."
"An Evening With Malcolm Goldstein," featuring Chattanooga improv dancer Ann Law, is tonight. On Saturday, he will direct the New Dischord Ensemble, the culmination of a three-day workshop with local performers.
On Friday, New York composers/performers Jeffrey Young and Paul Pinto stop on their 17-city Election Tour for a Stranger America with a humorous, politically charged and absurdly titled work, "Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs and a Healthy Environment: An Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young." The half-hour work will be presented as part of the regularly scheduled Wide Open Floor, a monthly series of open-stage performances at Barking Legs.
Other festival performers include Mark Bradley-Shoup, Ron Buffington, Adam Clay, Isaac Duncan, Ruth Grover, Ashley Hamilton, Blake Harris, Tim Hinck, Michael Kallstrom, Nathan King, Alyse Knorr, Aubrey Lenahan, Ada Limon, Nolan McGuire, Jerome Meadows, Kate Partridge, Meg Ronan, Julian Tan and Aggie Toppins.