Variations Goldberg’s #GoldbergsVariations (Fishman Space) ANDY BISKIN LOCATION: RUN TIME: DATES: RUBE GOLDBERG MUSIC ANDANIMATION BY CARTOONS BY 2013 Next Wave Festival 65min, nointermission BAM FISHER Oct 17—19at 7:30pm BAM 2013NextWave Festival sponsor Local Musicians the BAMFund Emerging and toSupport providedby Additional endowmentsupport The Virginia B.Toulmin Foundation formusicatBAMprovidedby Major support Viacom istheBAM2013MusicSponsor Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo, President Karen BrooksHopkins, Vice ChairmanoftheBoard Adam E.Max, Vice ChairmanoftheBoard William I.Campbell, Chairman oftheBoard Alan H. Fishman, Brooklyn AcademyofMusic BAM Fisher 2013 Next Wave Festival PROGRAM

Goldberg’s Overture

Variations A Self-Scrubbing Bath Brush Invention 1: Organ Grinder Featuring: How to Button Your Collar in a Hurry ANDY BISKIN Invention 2: Wheel Clarinet and Bass Clarinet MICHAEL MCGINNIS Handy Self-Working Sunshade Clarinet and Alto Saxophone Simple Way to Light a Cigar in an DAVE BALLOU Automobile Traveling Fifty Miles an Hour Trumpet BRIAN DRYE Invention 3: Peacock Trombone How to Signal Your Bridge Partner DAVID PHILLIPS Bass Invention 4: Mirror JOHN HOLLENBECK Percussion Self-Operating Napkin

Invention 5: Clock STAGE DIRECTOR Alicia Dhyana House Solution for Growing Hair on Balding Men SET AND LIGHTING DESIGNER Jiyoun Chang Invention 6: Tree PRODUCTION MANAGER Emily Krell A Modest Mosquito Bite Scratcher

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER Outboard Motor That Requires No Fuel Marie Yokoyama MACHINE DESIGNER Invention 7: Page Turner John McCullough A Simple Way to Locate Your Rubbers on a Rainy Day

Invention 8: Barodik

A Sure Way to Keep Your Head Down During a Golf Shot

Finale: Automatic Sheet Music Turner PROGRAM NOTE Think of anybody calling anything a Barodik! You could spend years Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Rube juggling the letters of the alphabet Goldberg (1883—1970) created his without getting a name as beautiful as famous inventions between 1915 the one Professor Slate had snatched and 1935. They reflect the popular out of thin air for his invention…. fascination with technology and gadgetry that began with the Machine In the course of years thousands of Age and is still very much with us letters have reached me asking how today. They also sharply comment on I ever happened to get started on our urge to overcomplicate, juxtaposing my line of drawing strange-looking a goofy hodgepodge of causes and inventions designed to perform effects from physics, engineering, common-place but annoying tasks, botany, and human and animal such as catching a mouse or getting psychology. an olive out of a long-necked bottle. Well, the inspiration was Freddy Slate’s But most of all, Rube Goldberg’s Barodik. He was so serious about it, inventions delight us with their which had a gorgeous name and was unforgettable characters, absurd logic, never scientifically wrong—though and brilliant cartoonery. never actually right, as far as I could see—that I just simply never recovered Where did the inventions come from? from the exposure.... In his illustrated autobiography, Rube Goldberg vs. The Machine Age, Rube But I didn’t start to invent my Barodiks credits Professor Frederick Slate, his until about a decade after I left the instructor in analytic mechanics and university. I merely broadened the physics at the College of Mining at scope of the Barodik by adding mice, UC Berkeley, where Rube grudgingly rising yeast, toy windmills, midgets pursued a degree in engineering to and other elements working in a placate his father. Rube’s account chain reaction to accomplish (somewhat condensed here) is something trivial. delightfully convoluted, like the inventions themselves, and it reminds All that remained was for Rube to us that his way with words could be invent an alter ego to whom he could every bit as funny as his cartoons: credit these miraculous discoveries. The inventor of the inventions is none Professor Slate had devised a machine other than Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola by which the weight of the earth Butts, A.K., a character presumed to be could be determined. It was a system based on Professor Slate himself. Rube of tubes, retorts, hoses, and what prefaced many of his explanations of appeared to be odds and ends. What the workings of a particular invention knocked me over completely was the with a fantastic description of how name he had given to the crazy-looking Professor Butts received his inspiration. contraption. He called it a Barodik. These eureka moments were usually 2013 Next Wave Festival the results of minor catastrophes, such sound and look like if they could as Butts stepping into an open elevator move. For over a year I spent many shaft, getting his whiskers caught in a a long night in the lab alone with laundry wringer, or knocking himself Professor Butts and my wheezing Mac out while boxing. G4, dangling blocks of ice in front of false teeth to make them chatter, Examine a selection of Rube’s catapulting measles germs toward inventions and you will quickly notice unsuspecting dolls, dissolving gold familiar patterns, motifs, and themes. nuggets with strong acid, and trying The room with the window on the to devise a soundtrack that would do left, the jack-in-the-box, dissolving justice to it all. rocks, explosives, animals obeying their instincts. At first glance, the As the work unfolded, I could not machines might seem repetitive, but resist trying my own humble hand at like J.S. Bach’s monumental Goldberg inventing. Between the animations you Variations, freedom and creativity will hear short musical interludes that flourish within a prescribed form. The have been inspired by the incredible actual problem at hand becomes a Inventions of both J.S. Bach and R.L. MacGuffin. The delight is not so much Goldberg. in the successful tooth extraction or —Andy Biskin, 2013 gravy spot removal (or in Bach’s case, a successful inverted canon at the fourth in three-quarter time), but in Goldberg’s Variations was the machine’s playful journey, the deft commissioned by Thalia Music at execution of small details, and the Symphony Space in New York City. discovery of something brand new with each variation. Artwork Copyright © Rube Goldberg Inc. All Rights Reserved. Rube The creative process becomes its own Goldberg ® is a registered trademark self-renewing muse. The inventions are of Rube Goldberg Inc. All materials more like structured improvisations, used with permission. similar to Bach’s formal yet free- flowing process. Seen in this light, the grim travails and resulting hard-earned inspiration of Professor Butts seem all the more ridiculous.

Like Rube Goldberg’s reimagined Barodiks, Goldberg’s Variations started with a simple idea that quickly escalated into something considerably more complicated. My original goal was to take a dozen of the Goldberg machines and explore what they might wrote, “it’s hard to find gentle humor in jazz, but the clarinetist Andy Biskin has perfect radar for it.” His subsequent CD releases include Early Who’s American: The Melodies of Stephen Foster, which made several “Best of 2006” lists and received a four-star review in Downbeat, the chamber jazz Who o recording Trio Tragico with Drew Gress and Dave Ballou, and The Spokes: Not So Fast, featuring a cooperatively led wind trio with Phillip Johnston (soprano sax) and Curtis Hasselbring (trombone). He is currently completing a recording with his new group, IBID, with Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Brian Drye (trombone), and Jeff Davis (drums). Biskin has produced and edited documentaries as well as video pieces that combine music and imagery. Goldberg’s Variations marks

Photo: Andy Biskin by Anja Hitzenberger his first (and probably last) foray into video animation.

Michael McGinnis Clarinet/Saxophone Andy Biskin Composer-Animator Michael McGinnis places himself Clarinet/Bass Clarinet firmly within a long tradition of anti- traditionalists. He has worked with Anthony Braxton, Alice and Ravi Andy Biskin is a clarinetist, composer, Coltrane, Steve Coleman, Lonnie and filmmaker recognized for his Plaxico, Yo La Tengo, Stew & The omnivorous musical imagination Negro Problem, and as soloist for the and 20/20 vision for irony. Taking Tony-winning Broadway hit Fela!. inspiration equally from Raymond He co-leads the inventive ensembles Scott, Charles Ives, Igor Stravinsky, DDYGG and The Four Bags. His and Lawrence Welk, Biskin leads two latest releases, Road*Trip and several ensembles and has composed The Ängsudden Song Cycle, feature scores for film, dance, and theater. extended compositions that showcase His debut album Dogmental was McGinnis’ skills as both composer and named Album of the Week by Ben improviser. Ratliff in The New York Times who 2013 Next Wave Festival Drye created the performance space Ibeam Brooklyn, which presents impro- Who’s visers from New York City and beyond. Dave Phillips Bass

Who Dave Phillips has released three CDs as a leader, most recently Freedance Dave Ballou Live, and toured North America and Trumpet Europe with his group Freedance. He began learning bass from his father, Dave Ballou has released nine CDs Barre Phillips, then studied with as a bandleader or co-leader. He has Homer Mensch at the Mannes College performed or recorded with ensembles of Music and earned a graduate degree led by Rabih Abou Kahlil, Steely Dan, from Juilliard under Eugene Levinson. Michael Formanek, Woody Herman, While active as a session player in Andrew Hill, John Hollenbeck’s Large New York, he is currently a member of Ensemble, Sheila Jordan, Oliver Lake, the Syrian group Hewar, Bruce Arnold’s Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, Dewey Spooky Actions, and performs regularly Redman, Maria Schneider, and an with Indian singer Kiran Ahluwali. extensive list of jazz personalities. His compositions have been performed and recorded by the Meridian Arts En- John Hollenbeck semble, trumpeter Jon Nelson, french Percussion hornist Adam Unsworth, and the TILT Brass ensemble. Ballou is an associate John Hollenbeck has worked with professor of music and coordinator of many of the world’s leading musi- the jazz/commercial music program at cians in jazz (Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Towson University. Hersch, Tony Malaby) and new music (Meredith Monk). As a bandleader and composer, John has gained widespread Brian Drye recognition for his Claudia Quintet and Trombone John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. His Large Ensemble’s releases, A Brian Drye has toured Japan, Europe, Blessing and eternal interlude, both and throughout the US. Ben Ratliff of received Grammy nominations, as did The New York Times called his record his composition Falling Men, commis- Bizingas “one of the best introductions sioned by Orchestre National de Jazz. to a new band that I’ve heard lately.” In 2007 he was awarded a Gug- He has lent his unique trombone voice genheim Fellowship and in 2012 the to groups as diverse as the Brooklyn Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. Qawwali Party, Slavic Soul Party, the Since 2005, he has been a professor Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the Four of jazz drums and improvisation at Tops, Dianne Schuur, and Joan Baez. Jazz Institute Berlin. Alicia Dhyana House John McCullough Stage Direction Machine Design

Alicia Dhyana House specializes in John McCullough has been building re-imagined classics, devised and things for plays since he worked for multimedia work, and new plays. his class company in eighth grade. Directing credits include: Medea Now he is the Technical Director at (Official Selection Prague Quadrennial New York City College of Technology 2011), The Seagull, Marivaux’s The where he teaches scenery construction Game of Love and Chance, Caryl and stage machinery. McCullough is Churchill’s Top Girls, Sarah Ruhl’s also the technical director for New Eurydice and In The Next Room, York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, Summer Season. Other work includes and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing. freelance technical direction and event Since 2010 House has been a guest production with companies such as director at Atlantic Theater Acting Ars Nova, Yale Repertory Theatre, and School and a directing mentor at Viva Creative. Fordham University.

Jiyoun Chang Marie Yokoyama Assistant Lighting Designer Set and Lighting Design

Marie Yokoyama is a lighting and set Jiyoun Chang’s credits include The designer based in New York City. Her Unfortunates, Troilus and Cressida lighting design credits include Bloody (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The Bloody Andrew Jackson (Red House), Dance and the Railroad (Signature The Turn of the Screw and Der Kaiser Theatre, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, von Atlantis (Opera Moderne), Faust China), T. 1912, Peter and the Wolf (Curtis Institute of Music), Three (Guggenheim Museum), Light Within Trees and Baudelaire: La Mort (Pan (Carnegie Hall), Olives and Blood Asian Rep), Billy Witch (APAC), We (HERE Art), Tennessee Playboy, A in Silence Hear a Whisper (Red Doll’s House (Triad Stage), Crane Story Fern Theatre), (M)asking Questions (Playwrights Realm), Shanghai Lil’s, (California Repertory Theater), and Stella Rising (Pan Asian Repertory), Compulsion (Yale Repertory Theatre). Stairs to the Roof (A.R.T. Institute), Love Song (59E59), I Fioretti in Musica (La MaMa), La Voix Humaine (Yale), and La Finta Giardiniera (Juilliard). 2013 Next Wave Festival Emily Krell Production Manager

Emily Krell, a classically-trained violinist turned independent producer, focuses on creating good audience experiences, building community around new work, and supporting the vision of performing artists. Aside from her work on this show, she is currently S¯o Percussion’s managing director and the artistic administrator and concert producer at Merkin Concert Hall. Krell has also worked for and with the Whitney Museum of American Art, BAM, S.E.M. Ensemble, WNYC, Performa, and Zs, among others. BAM

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Salutes Automatic Sheet Music Turner

A Self-Scrubbing Bath Brush

Artwork Copyright © Rube Goldberg Inc. All Rights Reserved. Rube Goldberg ® is a registered trademark of Rube Goldberg Inc. All materials used with permission.

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