Tank Loop

We're not going to lie - this residency was a lot of work...it was nuts. Thom moved back to NYC full-time and we completely renovated Loop Headquarters in Bed-Stuy. This meant rehearsing late at night at Carroll Music - who were wonderful to us throughout, while Loopland was a construction zone. An-Lin was amazing in this entire process and helped design all of the changes to the studio. Lorne spent hours schlepping gear into studio 4 and trying to wire the PA system for rehearsals, T-Byrd Burnett tried to keep peace with the short fuses of the directors, and James had to spend extra money on beer at mid-town deli's...we all made sacrifices. It paid off as there were wonderful moments in each show, and when things hit their stride in show #3, everything made sense.

Please check out some of the photos, mostly from the dress rehearsal of concert 3 and taken by Kiyoshi Inoue. There will be video posted eventually, so check back at the youtube channel.

Thanks to all of the performers: John Amira, James Armstrong, Tom Burnett, Mat Fieldes, Erik Friedlander, James Godwin, Emily Hope Price, Dafnis Prieto, Steven Reker. We also thank Suzan, Brendan, Jenn, Chris, Trent, and all at the Tank.

CMJ Loop

We were selected to perform at the CMJ (College Music Journal) Marathon this fall in NYC. This is a big industry happening of which we were glad to take part. Zodiac Dust reached #23 on the CMJ RPM charts (experimental music) in 2009, thanks to the DJ's and students! The sweaty, candid photo (courteousy of Kiyoshi), is after the midnight set.

Master Classes, Workshops, and Residencies

Loop 2.4.3's educational outreach expanded significantly this year with multiple engagements in our own backyard through the Brooklyn Arts Council. We also traveled upstate to the Center School District, and did mini-residencies in Pennsylvania at Slippery Rock University and Susquehanna University. A big thank you to David and Kim Glover at Slippery Rock, and to Dr. Naomi Niskala and all of the faculty in the music department at Susquehanna for being such wonderful hosts. All of the students in PA were extremely positive and wonderful to work with..there must be something in the air...

Our Big Project this fall was our monthly residency at The Tank Space for Visual and Performing Arts. This deserves it's own section complete with photos and links....coming soon! Again, photos are courtesy of Kiyoshi Inoue.

Carnegie Hall

We appeared 2 times this year in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall with the New American Symphony. This is always a pleasure and we look forward to future collaborations. Special thanks to music director Eric Dale Knapp, and manager Brian Mahany.

Fall Tour

Our fall tour of the Mid-Atlantic region included our debut appearances in Baltimore and Washington, DC. We made some great friends in DC at the Potter's House, where we did a benefit concert for the Arlington Planetarium. The series there, Sounds of Hope, is run by Mary Shapiro and benefits a variety of organizations. A warm thank you to Mary, Jeff, Ted and Mike of Lost Civilizations, and the Potter's House and Planetarium crews.

Also on this trip we played at a small music school in Long Valley, NJ, where we got some great video footage. Follow these links to see a few (there are more as well):

The Return of Chickchi

Clouds

and a new piece, Alchemy

a BIG THANKS to Dave White at Long Valley for the videos!!

Northeast Tour

Highlights on our summer tour in the Northeast included stops in New Haven (thanks to Jonny Rodgers, Istvan, Dan, and Dana), Cambridge (thanks to Allison and Suzie for all the help!), and Portland, ME. We played at the Space Gallery in Portland, which was an awesome room and our biggest audience yet in vacationland. A big thanks to Parks and David for hosting us - David is also our yoga and surfing coach, and to Ian and all at Space. We plan to return to New England in June for sure..if not sooner. We hope to see you all then!

Make Music New York

On June 21 we participated in Make Music New York. This year we organized an improvising gong ensemble. The Mass Appeal Gong Ensemble appeared at Merchants' Gate, Central Park, Manhattan. A clip of this got featured on Alex Ross’ youtube page. This was a lot of fun -thanks to all you gongers!!