Friday afternoon and festival favorites the effervescent Claire Chase and multi-talented Tyshawn Sorey held court for some of the kind of music that The Ojai Music Festival is most appreciated for. International Contemporary Ensemble founder Chase can be counted on for provocative, exuberant and sometimes humorous material presented in highly imaginative ways. She switched between a range of flutes, from piccolo to a huge contrabass, played solo, with Tyshawn Sorey for his “Bertha’s Lair,” and for the space oddity “Gama X,” was accompanied by its composer Pauchi Sasaki. Both ladies were attired in speakers. For “Pan,” the last piece of her set, Ms. Chase was joined by members of the audience and a few from ICE, who played wine glasses and various bits of percussion. It all made for beautifully strange fun. After a brief intermission Mr. Sorey’s “The Inner Spectrum of Variables” filled the Bowl with more off-kilter contemporary fare and the audience was well pleased after an afternoon of adventurous music making.
Award-winning musician Claire Chase – The Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Award-winning musician Claire Chase – The Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, contrabass flute and Tyshawn Sorey, drums – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Award-winning musician Claire Chase wearing a speaker “skirt” – The Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Pauchi Sasaki, violin and Claire Chase, bass flute – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Award-winning musician Claire Chase and audience members perform excerpts from Marcos Balter’s “Pan” – The Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Claire Chase, Tyshawn Sorey and Pauchi Sasaki – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Robin Kodheli, cello, Kyle Ambrust, viola, Charn Hwei Fung, violin and Tyshawn Sorey, conductor – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Tyshawn Sorey conducting his “The Inner Spectrum of Variables” – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Tyshawn Sorey conducting his “The Inner Spectrum of Variables” – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
Corey Smythe – piano, Robin Kodheli – cello, Kyle Ambrust – viola, Charn Hwei Fung – violin and Tyshawn Sorey, conductor – Ojai Music Festival 6/9/17 Libbey Bowl
