Coming together to listen deeply; to move and to sound playfully, and to attend to a performance in tribute to beloved master musician and teacher, Stuart Dempster. (Please note that the celebration takes place over the course of several hours. No food or drink will be offered at the event, so please plan accordingly. Stuart requests that you bring no presents, just your presence!)
LISTENING TOGETHER (4 – 4:30 PM)
Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center (4th floor)
Deep Listening session with Brian Pertl and Leila Ramagopal Pertl
PLAYING TOGETHER (5 – 6 PM)
Picnic shelter in Meridian Park, directly behind/west of Good Shepherd Center (weather permitting; if not, we’ll meet in the Chapel) Please note, no amplified sound permitted in the Meridian Park area.
MERIDIAN EVENT for Stuart Dempster on his ninetieth birthday
(for best results, join us for Deep Listening in the Chapel before MERIDIAN EVENT!)
To celebrate Stu,
YOU ARE INVITED
To come together
To sing
To play
To dance
To listen
Spontaneously, improvisingly,
Or
Premeditatedly, composedly, choreographedly,
YOU ARE INVITED
In whatever mode you choose, to remember what he taught us:
YOU ARE INVITED
To always listen
To enjoy the silence
To play the silence
To leave space
To let your doing be transparent to what everyone else is doing
To direct your energy
To play with love
To listen deeply
To direct your energy and play with love towards a specific person or specific persons
To listen for the ending
ATTENDING TOGETHER (6:30 – 7 PM)
Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center (4th floor)
Poem, “Gold and Oak” reading by Brian Komei Dempster
livingROOM, with original ROOM performers Sheri Cohen, Stuart Dempster, Renko Ishida Dempster, John Dixon and Tonya Lockyer, plus guests Loren Dempster, Neal Kosaly-Meyer, David Knott, Margaret Paek, and Steve Peters. Video by Robert Campbell.
All are invited to linger following the performance to continue the celebration!
(photo: Danette Davis, courtesy of Earshot Jazz)