Occupy the Pianos - from Queer Pitch, to pianos, metronomes and Steve Martland's Drill

Rolf Hind

Pianist and composer Rolf Hind is returning to St John's Smith Square for the second Occupy the Pianos, a three-day piano festival from 10 to 13 September 2015. An amazing total of eleven concerts will present music for pianos, prepared piano, voice and dancer from 20th and 21st centuries, from composers ranging from John Cage, Cowell, Copland, Feldman and Swedish poet and musician Tomas Transtroemer (1931-2015), Karl Aage Rasmussen, Jonathan Goddard, Per Nørgárd, György Kurtág, Ligeti and Rebecca Saunders, along with Per Nørgárd's Unendlicher Empfang for two pianos and four metronomes, Steve Martland's Drill for 2 pianos.

The Saturday night concert (12 September, 7pm) is Queer Pitch - described by Rolf Hind as "a gay cabaret", a chance to hear the music of various composers who might identify themselves in this way, though wildly differing in style, including readings and music by Michael Finnissy, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveiros, David Del Tredici, Claude Vivier as well as the extraordinary and rarely played Gay Guerrilla for 4 pianists by the tragically short-lived Julius Eastman. There will be a discussion beforehand, raising the question of this kind of programming and how meaningful it can be.