Aidan Gold presents an evening of musical games, improvisation, and participatory performance. Musical games, or “ludic pieces,” are pieces of music that involve game mechanics. These mechanics range from reacting to others’ choices, making edits to each other’s sheet music, trying to figure out who the “improviser” is, musical charades, moving through a board game, strategically placing notes to maximize your score, and much more. They range from free improvisation to mostly fixed music and everything in-between, and often involve audience participation.
The evening will be a cross between a concert and a participatory “game night.” You are welcome to participate in any of the pieces. If you have an instrument or sound-making device you like to use, feel free to bring it. There will be opportunities for playing on your instrument, singing, playing toy/percussion instruments, and even conducting. Several of the games require no musical background or training to perform – all the rules and mechanics for each game will be explained during the evening. Participation is optional – if you want to just sit back and listen, that is great as well!
Aidan Gold is a composer/percussionist/educator who grew up in the Seattle area. After completing his doctoral research (on musical games) at Juilliard, he has returned to Seattle and is excited to bring these works, some of which will be West Coast premieres, to the Seattle community. Aidan is the co-founder of the contemporary chamber collective Away From Keyboard, and has written for a wide range of ensembles from the Juilliard Orchestra to the JACK Quartet. Aidan is a faculty member at the Walden School Young Musicians Program. He also loves origami and hiking in the Cascade mountains.