Jon Gibson (minimalist musician)
Encyclopedia
Jon Gibson is a flautist
, saxophonist
, and composer.
at San Francisco State University
, where he earned a BA in 1964. His earliest work as an improviser and composer also dates from around this time, when he performed in the New Music Ensemble with composers Larry Austin
, Richard Swift, and Stanley Lunetta (Strickland 2001).
and classical
.
He was a founding member and performer with the Philip Glass Ensemble
. Gibson has performed in the premier of In C
by Terry Riley
, and Drumming by Steve Reich
, as well as Reich's 1967 composition Reed Phase, which Reich wrote especially for him (Strickland 2001).
He has also performed and recorded with other composers, some of them minimalists
, including Christian Wolff
, David Behrman
, Harold Budd
, Alvin Curran
and Frederic Rzewski
(Strickland 2001).
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, and composer.
Education
Gibson studied at Sacramento State University and with Henry Onderdonk and Wayne PetersonWayne Peterson
Wayne Peterson is a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, as well as a pianist and educator.Peterson earned B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Minnesota...
at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, where he earned a BA in 1964. His earliest work as an improviser and composer also dates from around this time, when he performed in the New Music Ensemble with composers Larry Austin
Larry Austin
Larry Austin is a United States composer noted for his electronic and computer music works. He was a co-founder and editor of the avant-garde music periodical Source: Music of the Avant Garde...
, Richard Swift, and Stanley Lunetta (Strickland 2001).
Career
Gibson uses various instruments from around the world in his performances of jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
.
He was a founding member and performer with the Philip Glass Ensemble
Philip Glass Ensemble
The Philip Glass Ensemble is a musical group founded by composer Philip Glass in 1968 to serve as a performance outlet for his experimental minimalist music. The Ensemble's instrumentation became a hallmark of Glass' early minimalist style...
. Gibson has performed in the premier of In C
In C
In C is a semi-aleatoric musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for any number of people, although he suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work"...
by Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
, and Drumming by Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, as well as Reich's 1967 composition Reed Phase, which Reich wrote especially for him (Strickland 2001).
He has also performed and recorded with other composers, some of them minimalists
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
, including Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff may refer to:* Christian Wolff , German actor* Christian Wolff , German composer* Christian Wolff , American composer of experimental classical music...
, David Behrman
David Behrman
David Behrman is a US composer and the producer of Columbia Records' Music of Our Time series. He was also a founding member of the Sonic Arts Union. He toured with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and has worked with Ben Neill. He was a part of Robert Ashley's Music with Roots in the Aether...
, Harold Budd
Harold Budd
Harold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
, Alvin Curran
Alvin Curran
Composer Alvin Curran , is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of Musica Elettronica Viva, and a former student of Elliott Carter. Curran's music often makes use of electronics and environmental found sounds....
and Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Anthony Rzewski is an American composer and virtuoso pianist.- Biography :Rzewski began playing piano at age 5. He attended Phillips Academy, Harvard and Princeton, where his teachers included Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and Milton Babbitt...
(Strickland 2001).