Glenn Branca (born October 6, 1948) is an
American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. Branca received a 2009
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists
Award.
Branca started playing the guitar at age 15. He also created a number of tape sound art collage pieces for his own amusement. After attending
York College in 1966–1967, he started the short-lived cover band
The Crystal Ship with Al Whiteside and
Dave Speece in the summer of 1967
. In the early
1970s, Branca studied theater at
Emerson College in
Boston. In
1973, he moved from Boston to
London with his then girlfriend Meg
English.
After moving back to Boston in
1974, he met
John Rehberger. While there, he began experimenting with sound as the founder of an experimental theater group called
Bastard Theatre in
1975.
Working out of a loft on
Massachusetts Avenue they wrote and produced the music/theater piece Anthropophagoi for a two-week run. The lead actor, John Keiser, was chosen in
The Boston Phoenix as one of the best performances of the year.[citation needed] In
1976,
The Bastard Theatre's second production was What
Actually Happened at a new loft in
Central Square, Cambridge and later at The Boston Arts
Group. Considering the unconventional and sometimes confrontational nature of the productions, the shows still received interested reviews from the
Phoenix and
The Boston Globe. All music for Bastard Theatre productions were original compositions by Branca or Rehberger and were performed live by the actor/musicians.[1]
In 1976 Branca moved to
New York City to continue in experimental theater. He encountered the N.
Dodo Band and watched their rehearsals in
Chelsea, hoping to use the space for a theater production. Branca spent time with one of its members,
Jeffrey Lohn, who introduced him to bands such as
Suicide. The two began forming a theater group when Branca decided he wanted to form a band, which he called the
Static. Branca put up posters to recruit members, and after seeing one of the posters, Lohn expressed interest.[2]
In the early
1990s,
David Baratier attempted to document Branca's teaching style in They Walked in
Line.
In September 1996, The Glenn Branca
Ensemble played at the opening ceremony for the
Aarhus Festival in
Denmark. The ceremony took place in the
Musikhuset Opera House, and in the audience were the
Queen of Denmark, the mayor of Aarhus and other dignitaries. After receiving more than 25 major commissions since
1981, Branca's music has finally begun to receive academic attention. Some scholars, most prominently
Kyle Gann, consider him (and
Rhys Chatham) to be a member of the totalist school of post-minimalism.
Beginning with
Symphony No. 7, Branca began composing for traditional orchestra, although he never abandoned the electric guitar. Branca also plays duets for excessively amplified guitars with his wife, and conducted his
13th symphony for
100 electric guitars at the base of the
World Trade Center in New York City on June 13,
2001, less than three months before the center's destruction in the
September 11 attacks. Since that time his 100 guitar piece has been performed in cities all over the
U.S. and
Europe. In 2008, he wrote his
14th Symphony, entitled "The
Harmonic Series", which is performed by a traditional orchestra. The first movement of this symphony, named "2,
000,000,000
Light Years From
Home" premiered in
St. Louis performed by the
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by
David Robertson on
November 13, 2008. This was the 12th major orchestra to perform Branca's orchestral work since
1986.
In 2008, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award as well as a
CAPS grant in
1983, an award from the
National Endowment for the Arts in
1988 and a
NYSCA grant in
1998, all for music composition. In
2010,
Fortissimo Records re-released Branca's 1981
album The Ascension as a special edition on
180 grams vinyl and Branca wrote a piece The Ascension: The
Sequel, which was released in the same year on the label
Systems Neutralizers. This follow up piece led to new interest in his work and notable performances at
Primavera Sound Festival 2011 and
Villette Sonique 2011.
In
October 2014, Branca premiered "
Ascension Three", touring it with Glenn Branca Ensemble in Europe.
In
February 2015, Branca's second 100 electric guitars piece, "
Symphony No. 16 (
Orgasm)", was premiered at
Cite de la Musique in
Paris.
- published: 19 Mar 2016
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