Carl Stone at Berkeley Art Museum

Tomorrow night is the next Late Friday’s at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and if you haven’t been to one of these events it’s not something to be missed. The Terry Riley and Ellen Fullman performances there were incredible music and perfectly complement the impressive acoustics and architecture of the space.

On Friday come see a rare Bay Area appearance by computer music pioneer Carl Stone, performing the U.S. premiere of his new evening-length multi-channel piece DARDA, featuring the shomyo vocal chant of Makiko Sakurai. (Shomyo is an ancient form of chant associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, dating from the Heian period, 781–1192 CE.) First performed in the intimate setting of the tea house of Kiyosumi Garden in central Tokyo, the piece has been adapted by Stone for the museum’s sweeping contemporary architecture. Listeners are invited to bring blankets and pillows and relax in the gallery space.

Carl Stone is one of the pioneers of live computer music, and has been hailed by the Village Voice as “the king of sampling.” and “one of the best composers living in (the USA) today.” He has used computers in live performance since 1986. Stone was born in Los Angeles and now divides his time between San Francisco and Japan. He studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts with Morton Subotnick and James Tenney and has composed electro-acoustic music almost exclusively since 1972. In addition to his schedule of performance, composition and touring, he is on the faculty of the Media Department at Chukyo University in Japan.

• Enjoy a meal at Cafe Muse, open for dinner on L@TE Fridays from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
• Wobbly spins in the lobby starting at 6 p.m., when wine and beer are available for purchase.
• Zine Mart offers zines, books, and other multiples, including a collectible series of limited edition prints documenting the wide array of musicians, artists, writers, and performers who have participated in the L@TE program.
• The BAM Galleries are open until 9 p.m.
• Love Letters and Live Wires: Highlights from the GPO Film Unit and Joseph Losey’s M screen at the PFA Theater.