Epistrophy Arts and
New Music Co-op present a
Master Class with John Butcher
Thursday March 21st 2002
Ceremony Hall
5:30 - 8:00pm

The night before his performance, London Saxophonist/Composer John Butcher will hold a master class for local musicians interested in improvised and adventurous new music.

Ensembles will be invited to play a short piece and receive individual instruction from Mr. Butcher. Participants are invited to sign up for the class as group, or individually with the chance to form a group the day of the class. The class will also be open to public observation.

If you would like to participate, please pre-register before Monday March 18th. Available time is limited, and slots will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Please plan to show up 30 minutes early if your instrument requires extensive setup time.

There will be a $5 participation fee per attendee which will be waived if you have already purchased an advanced ticket to the Epistrophy Arts performance the following night.

John Butcher lives in London and has played the saxophone for about 25 years. He began at Surrey university where he was studying physics. Here, he played in a number of jazz groups with pianist Chris Burn and first participated in group improvisation via some of Stockhausen's 'intuitive' pieces. On moving to London, to begin a Ph.D on the theoretical properties of charmed quarks, his musical activities included a stint at Sadler's Wells Theatre (with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre), tours with the New Arts Consort, concerts with Burn's BBC-award winning big band, and a jazz quartet residency at the White Hart, Drury Lane. Since leaving academia in 1982 he has focused on improvisation and new music, and his playing now ranges through free improvisation, various structurings, his own compositions, multitracked saxophone pieces, work with pre-recorded tape, and also live electronics. He has toured and broadcast throughout Europe and North America, and was featured, playing solo, in the BBC TV programme Date with an artist.

The class was a stunning success. 18 musicans from the community attended with a wide variety of instruments. Butcher led the group through many exercises as well as coaching ensembles on cohesiveness and stepping out of their instrumental roles.

The following evening, four attendees from the class (The Imbroglio String Quartet) performed with Butcher in the second set.