Kraig Grady
Encyclopedia
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
/sound artist. He has composed and performed with an ensemble of microtonal instruments of his own design and also worked as a shadow puppeteer, tuning theorist, filmmaker, world music radio DJ and concert promoter. His works feature his own ensembles of acoustic instruments, including metallophones, marimbas, hammered dulcimers and reed organs tuned to microtonal just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
scales. His compositions include accompaniments for silent films and shadow plays. An important influence in the development of Grady's music was Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
, like Grady, a musician from the Southwest, and a composer of theatrical works in Just Intonation for self-built instruments.
Born in Montebello, California
Montebello, California
Montebello is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the southwestern part of the San Gabriel Valley. It is located on of land just east of downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities, and the city is a member of the Gateway Cities Council of...
in 1952, Grady began composing while still in his teens. After studies with Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky was a Russian born American composer, conductor, musician, music critic, lexicographer and author. He described himself as a "diaskeuast" ; "a reviser or interpolator."- Life :...
, Dean Drummond
Dean Drummond
Dean Drummond is an American composer, conductor and musician. His music utilises microtonality, electronics, and a huge variety of percussion...
, Dorrance Stalvey and Byong-Kon Kim, he produced his earliest compositions. Since meeting tuning theorist Erv Wilson
Erv Wilson
Ervin Wilson is a Mexican/American music theorist. Despite his avoidance of academia, Wilson has been influential on those interested in microtonal music and just intonation, especially in the areas of scale, keyboard, and notation design...
in 1975, he has composed and performed in alternative tunings based on Wilson’s theories, first in 31-tone equal temperament, and eventually in the just intonation resources of Wilson's combination-product sets and meta-slendro. In the early 1980s Grady and filmmaker Keith Barefoot created a number of performances combining live music with silent film. In his 1989 opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
War and Pieces, he used film to project stage settings as well as illustrate the inner thoughts of the live performers.
Since 1993 Grady’s work has been connected to the activities of "The North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island", a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting the culture of this fictional island, which Grady characterizes as a "metaphorical geographical locale". He has produced numerous solo and ensemble works and ten shadow plays representing the "traditional" repertoire of Anaphoria: Ten Black Eye I-II, Black Eye Meru, Her Stirring Stone, Their Ventures Beyond The Horizons, The Stolen Stars, Frenzy At The Royal Threshold, The Quiet Erow, The Pilgrimage of Mirrors, and The Follies of Dr. Placebo.
Despite the fact that the size of his instruments make touring difficult, his work has been presented at Ballhaus Naunyn Berlin (Germany), the Chateau de la Napoule (France), the Norton Simon Museum of Art, the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum, the Pacific Asia Museum, California Institute of the Arts, Pomona College, Pierce College, Villa Aurora Foundation for European American Relations, the Schindler House, Beyond Baroque, the Brand Library, New Langton Arts, as well as numerous live performances on radio KPFK
KPFK
KPFK is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves the Greater Los Angeles Area, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet...
, KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...
, and KXLU
KXLU
KXLU is an FM radio station broadcasting out of Loyola Marymount University in southwest Los Angeles, California. It was first on the air in 1957, and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It is a non-commercial college radio station that plays many styles of music broadly classified under...
. His work was also presented as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
’s American Music Weekend as well as New Music America
New Music America
New Music America was an American festival of experimental or Downtown new music.The festival began at The Kitchen in New York City in 1979. In this first year, the festival was actually called New Music New York....
1985. He has been nominated four times for the LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
Music Awards best uncategorizable artist and was chosen by Buzz Magazine as one of the "100 coolest people in Los Angeles".
The Quiet Erow made its Australian premiere on the 9th of October 2009 at the Helensburgh Bushland Chapel, starring Kraig Grady (director), Terumi Narushima, Seth Harris, Mark Kennedy
Mark Kennedy
Mark Raymond Kennedy , is an American businessman and politician. Kennedy was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007. He represented Minnesota's 2nd congressional district during the 107th Congress and Minnesota's 6th congressional district during the...
, Friederike Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis and Hamish Lane.
Selective Discography
- Music From The Island Of Anaphoria (BZang Editions, Tiny Organ) 1994 CD
- From The Interiors Of Anaphoria (BZang Editions) 1995 CD
- The Creation Of The Worlds (BZang Editions) 1997 CD
- The Stolen Stars: An Anaphoria Dance Drama (Archive Of Anaphoria) 2003 CD
- Without R & R. (Experimental Musical Research) 2005 3" CD-R
- Orenda (Archive Of Anaphoria) 2006 3" CD-R
- Beyond The Windows Perhaps Among The Podcorn (Transparency) 2007 CD
- Footpaths and Trade Routes (ini.itu) 2009 LP, limited edition of 250
See also
HexanyHexany
In music theory, the hexany is a six-note just intonation scale, with the notes placed on the vertices of an octahedron, equivalently the faces of a cube...
His "A Farewell Ring" is for the Hexany and he has many other works for Combination product sets
External links
- Anaphoria.com - Grady's home page
- LAWeekly.com: Border Garde Microtonalist Kraig Grady: Outside and in between, by Greg Burk, includes photo.
- ini.itu - official website of the label who published Anaphoria / Kraig Grady's latest LP
- SO.CAL.SONIC: Kraig Grady
- Beyond The Windows Perhaps Among The Podcorn Review