Mixed Media

“What Makes It Italian?” is a music listening and discussion group that meets online on the Zoom platform and is open to everyone.
Participation is free.
The group is led by Gina Crusco, who has also guided listening at Bard LLI and Riverdale Y; acted as maestro del coro for opera in Italy; instructed music at The New School; and directed Underworld Productions.
Please email ginacrusco@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and receive an invitation link.

The sixth and final encounter will focus on Mixed Media:
Composer Cipriano de Rore (1515/16 – 1565) with sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500 – 1571); and
Composer Giulio Castagnoli (b 1958) with visual artist Maurizio Cattelan (b 1960)
Mixing it up: The goldsmith famous for a bronze; a non-sculptor’s life-sized figures; a composer who changed styles; and another who infused Renaissance style with Indian motifs, Chinese instruments, and electronics.

How can our understanding of italianità in music be informed by Italian sculpture? The insubstantial nature of musical materials – mere vibrations that move through the air, imperceptible to sight and touch – creates in us a longing for an analog made of solid material. In sculpture we have just such an analog: run your hand across the carved wood; feel the heat radiating from the bronze; watch the light play off the marble surface. This Spring we find the substance of Italian music by exploring its relationship to the substance/s of sculpture, one medium at a time.