One strategy the surrealists used to elicit imagery from the unconscious is called the “Exquisite Corpse.” In this collaborative art form, a piece of paper was folded in four, and four different artists contributed to the representation of a figure without seeing the other artists’ contributions. The first drew the head, folded the paper over and passed it on to the next, who drew the torso; the third drew the legs, and the fourth, the feet. The artists then unfolded the paper to study and interpret the combined figure.

We are proposing a musical interpretation of the “Exquisite Corpse” technique at the Schindler House, With the audience in the main courtyard, two groups of three musicians are set up in two different rooms of the house. Both rooms have sliding doors, which are open to the courtyard. One musician plays solo for approximately ten minutes. Then a musician in the other room joins in and they perform as a duet for approximately five minutes, at which time the first musician drops out and the second musician performs a solo for approximately ten minutes. The process repeats, alternating solo and duet and room to room, until all musicians have performed. The performance ends with the last solo musician performing a duet of approximately five minutes with the first musician.

Joseph Berardi is a Los Angeles-based performer and composer. As a percussionist, he politely sidesteps the traditional role of mere timekeeper, bringing his own characteristic approach to color, rhythm and texture to every musical situation. His unique style and use of miscellaneous percussive objects and found sounds within the traditional drum kit have made him a fixture on the Los Angeles experimental and improvised music scene. Berardi first came to prominence as a member of the critically acclaimed avant-pop group the Fibonaccis. This groundbreaking Los Angeles band recorded several LPs and film soundtracks, and performed countless live shows throughout the southwest, building a large following of devoted fans. Since this band’s demise, he has busied himself with a wide assortment of musical projects, from experimental to pop to points between and beyond. Non Credo, his ongoing collaboration with Kira Vollman, highlights his compositional and multi-instrumental skills, playing marimba, keyboards, electronics and the occasional accordion, cello and viola. He is also a member of surf-spy experimentalists Double Naught Spy Car, the metal/found objects percussion group The Obliteration Quartet, Weill/Eisler worshipers the Eastside Sinfonietta and the bent blues band The Mentones. Berardi has been the drummer/percussionist of choice for a diverse group of notorious performers, including recordings, tours and collaborations with such notables as: Megan Mullally’s group Supreme Music Program, ex-Bongwater/performance diva Ann Magnuson, Rufus Wainwright, punk poetess Lydia Lunch, James White and the Blacks, Congo Norvell (featuring ex-Cramps Kid Congo Powers), folk legend Donovan, ex-Pixies Frank Black & Joey Santiago, Algerian vocalist Rimitti (with Robert Fripp & Flea), chamber ensemble Motor Totemist Guild and Los Angeles improvisers Nels Cline, G.E. Stinson, Alain Johannes and microtonalist Kraig Grady.

Mitchell Brown draws inspiration for his aural investigations from a particular few developmentally disabled children (out of many) he has worked with for over 8 years. Their reduced capability to interact with others combined with an eccentric focus on detail, allows acute senses to flourish internally. Brown, through the aide of amplified and acoustic resonant objects, electronics, and the use of a location’s acoustic properties, hopes to instill a temporary solipsistic view of sound. Paramecial Wedding, which began in 1995 as a solo project, now exists as an ensemble containing Joseph Hammer, Rick Potts and Leticia Castaneda. Aralina Ping is a vehicle for a select few children that Brown works with, to encourage their awareness of sound and the ability to express themselves through the creation of it. His record label, Melon Expander, seeks to expose humble, hermetic sound artists working in the field of electro-acoustic and electronic music. Brown also doubles as Professor Cantaloupe when hosting Glossolalia, a weekly radio program specializing in sound art and collage heard on KXLU in Los Angeles. Guests of the program have included Morton Subotnick, Carl Stone, Nels Cline, John Duncan, Lionel Marchetti, Trevor Wishart and Danny Cohen.

Weba Garretson began her career in Los Angeles as the lead singer of the new wave band “The Pearls” who provided original songs for Ann Jellico’s “The Sport of My Mad Mother” directed by David Schweizer. She went on to work with Schweizer, Philip Littell and Jerry Frankel on “The Weba Show” an avant garde cabaret act that ran for over two years at the Lhasa Club, with special appearances at the Kool Jazz Festival, the Olympic Arts Festival and National TV. At the same time, she also appeared in many works by performance artist Donald Krieger including “Magic Radio,” “Boys Life” and “North.” From 1989-99 she toured with the performance art group the SHRIMPS, writing songs and original compositions in collaboration with Pearls guitarist Steve Stewart and Mark Wheaton. In 1990, they wrote LOOKS which premiered at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. In 1992, Garretson & Stewart were commissioned by MOCA to write and produce “Humans Making Love As Gods” a radio piece for MOCA’s Territory of Art Series for American Public Radio. From 1993-97, she performed spoken word narratives with improvised musical settings, collaborating with a diverse group of musicians led guitarist Joe Baiza and bass player Ralph Gorodetsky. She recorded two CD’s with Baiza and Gorodetsky — “Welcome to Webaworld” (Catasonic) and “Puttanesca” (unreleased). In 1998, she was invited to perform in the playwright Bertolt Brecht’s West Coast Centennial Festival and assembled the Eastside Sinfonietta with Joe Berardi, Jason Payne, Tracy Wannomae and Ralph Gorodetsky to create contemporary arrangements of classic songs from the Weimar Republic. The success of the Sinfonietta led to the Goethe Institute and MOCA presenting a new production of the Brecht/Weill musical “Happy End” at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary for the Weill Centennial in 2000. “Happy End” included films created by Frederik Nilsen and Daniel Marlos and featured Weba Garretson in the lead role of Lillian Holiday. Video artist Bill Viola saw Weba in “Happy End” and invited her to work on his Passions Series. She collaborated with Viola on “Catherine’s Room” a video installation that has been presented at the Getty Museum and the National Gallery of London. A CD of Weill/Brecht songs arranged and performed by the Eastside Sinfonietta was on True Classical CDs in the Spring of 2003.(Photo credit: Ann Summa)

Petra Haden, daughter of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden was introduced to a wide variety of musical stimulation at an early age. She soon developed her extraordinary ability to vocalize the sounds of the instruments she heard in the jazz and classical music that was now a steady part of her musical appetite. Blessed with an uncanny musical ear, she began forming arrangements in her head, translating the works of favorite artists Pat Metheny, Cocteau Twins and minimalist composer Steve Reich into her own unique musical language.

In the early ’90s Petra, her sister Rachel, and friend Anna Waronker formed the Los Angeles-based indie-pop group That Dog, which quickly became a staple of the L.A. club circuit. They released a self-titled debut LP in 1994. An energetic and quirky punk-pop effort highlighted by sunny harmonies and the intriguing use of violin and cello, the record became a college radio hit. The follow-up project, “Totally Crushed Out!”, was released a year later, and the group’s third recording, “Retreat From the Sun,” appeared in 1997, and the band’s breakup was announced that September.

Petra recorded a solo album “Imaginaryland,” which was released in 1996. In recent years, she has cultivated a number of important musical relationships reflected in her collaborations with Sean Lennon, Yuka Honda and Victoria Williams – the most recent being with the celebrated guitarist and composer Bill Frisell.

Upcoming projects include “Petra Sings, “The Who Sell Out” to be released in early September on Bar None records, a tour with Bill Frisell in July and a record with her sisters, Tanya and Rachel who are performing as The Haden Triplets. (bio courtesy True North Records)

G.E. Stinson: Birthplace: Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Early life: migratory, restless, outsider. Chicago at 13, hears Bo Diddley on car radio, purchases guitar. Learns to Play blues listening to Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, etc. Works /hangs out with Cash Mccall, Willie Dixon, etc. ’60s erupt. Flirts with Success as blues rock guitarist. Experiments with other music forms. Starts learning Charlie Parker tunes. Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” alters Direction. Starts improvising. 1974: co-founds Shadowfax. Relocates to Los Angeles. Success and eventual dissatisfaction. 1989: jettisons into Los Angeles underground music community. Refines extended technique & Frequency manipulation.

Kris Tiner is active on the West Coast jazz and creative music scene as a trumpeter, composer, improviser, and bandleader. He has toured and performed his own music throughout the U.S. and in Canada and West Africa, and has collaborated on numerous interdisciplinary projects involving dance, poetry and spoken word, visual art, film projection, and animation, as well as having written and performed music for TV, radio, and film. Among the artists Kris has performed with are Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, Leroy Jenkins, Gerry Hemingway, Michael Vlatkovich, Harris Eisenstadt, Phillip Greenlief, Brad Dutz, Joe LaBarbera, Conte Candoli, and Pete Christlieb. He is a regular member of The Industrial Jazz Group, the Kreative Orchestra of Los Angeles (KOLA), The Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet, and the Los Angeles Trumpet Quartet. His own current CD releases include ‘breathe in, feed out’ by the Tiner/Phillips/Schoenbeck Trio (pfMENTUM CD014) and ‘Making Room For Spaces’ by the MTKJ Quartet (Nine Winds CD0245). Originally from Wasco, California, Kris holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts where he worked closely with Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Vinny Golia, Charlie Haden, and Edward Carroll. He has lectured on both music and visual art, and currently teaches in the Performing Arts Department at Bakersfield College.