Oliver Ranch, Sonoma County, CA

Zaccho Dance Theatre

October 8 & 9, 2011

Join Joanna Haigood/Zaccho Dance Theatre as we premiere a new site specific work in the tower. The basis for this new performance installation will be an original fairy tale inspired by the site. The performance will include theater, circus and aerial dance and will travel through parts of the ranch's renowned art installation before arriving at the tower. Proceeds from performances will benefit the work of Zaccho Dance Theatre and 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic, both based in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.

Beneficiaries: Zaccho Dance Theatre and 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic

Pauline Oliveros

June 4 and 5, 2011
Beneficiary: Deep Listening Institute, Ltd.

The World Premiere of Tower Ring, a new work by legendary composer Pauline Oliveros will resonate the walls of the magnificent tower created by artist Ann Hamilton at the Oliver Ranch in Geyserville California. The listening audience from their positions on the double Helix stairways will intimately experience vibrant sensations emanating from a rising and descending traditional orchestral gong. Didjeridu, choral voices, an eight story long wire instrument and shimmering bells will add to a tapestry of sounds that can only be experienced in this structure.

Oliveros' historic composition, commissioned by the Oliver Ranch Foundation, is keyed to the eight stories of the Tower by a rising and descending gong and tiny bells played by audience members. In addition to the voices of members of the Cardew Choir directed by Tom Bickley, members of existing trios and quartets will be a part of the performance.

Included will be: the Deep Listening Band, Pauline Oliveros (conch/harmonica), Stuart Dempster (conch and dijeridu) and David Gamper (conch/overtone flutes); Horns of Hathor, Oliveros, Ione (improvisational spoken word) and Chris Chafe (long wire instrument); Timeless Pulse, Oliveros and percussionists George Marsh and Jennifer Wilsey. Mills College students will join in the performance; Brenda Hutchinson will be Bell Mistress for the event, Renko Dempster will create real-time drawings during the performance and movement will be guided by choreographer/dancer Christopher Pilafian.

Beneficiaries: Deep Listening Institute, Ltd.

Terry and Jo Harvey Allen
Covenant

June 25 and 26, 2011

On June 25 & 26 Terry and Jo Harvey Allen will perform Covenant, a new work written by the Allen’s specifically to be performed in Ann Hamilton’s Tower at The Oliver Ranch in Geyserville, CA. The piece will weave a survey of the Allen’s songs and stories, new and old, accompanied by renowned Texas musicians Bukka Allen (accordion/percussion), Lloyd Maines (guitars), Richard Bowden (fiddle/mandolin), and Brian Standefer (cello). Terry Allen, noted multi-media artist and songwriter, has exhibited and performed throughout the USA and internationally and received numerous awards and honors including Guggenheim and NEA fellowships and is a 2009 United States Artist Oliver Fellow. Jo Harvey Allen (NEA & Art Matters recipient) actress, playwright, pioneer in radio and performance art, highly acclaimed for her one woman shows and numerous film roles (True Stories, Fried Green Tomatoes, Valley of Elah.)

Beneficiary: California College of the Arts, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Sonoma Country Day School

Pacific Mozart Ensemble

October 23 and 24, 2010

For its 30th anniversary, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble has commissioned two site-specific pieces for the tower by noted Bay Area composers Amy X Neuberg and Sanford Dole. Ms. Neuberg's piece will be a multi-voiced piece around the theme of birth and renewal, allowing the audience to hear sound both inside and outside the tower, while Mr. Dole's piece is a reflection on the 10-part chorus Gabrieli motet "Vox Domini", which will also be performed. They will fill up the tower with sound and movement for a spectacular performance that you don't want to miss.

Beneficiaries: Oakland Art Guild, Cinnabar Theater

Misha Glouberman
Terrible Noises For Beautiful People

September 24 and 26, 2010

Join us on Friday, September 24th at 4:30 p.m., or Sunday September 26th at 4:00 p.m. to be a part of "Terrible Noises For Beautiful People", an experiential and interactive sound experiment created and produced by Misha Glouberman, at Ann Hamilton's Sound Tower on the Oliver Ranch. Proceeds benefit the Arts Council of Sonoma County and the Arts Education Alliance. This is a performance where all the sounds are made by the audience, using their voices, in a series of structured improvisations and games led by Misha Glouberman. Glouberman predicts "some of yelling, a certain amount of running around, and also some really quiet parts", and hopes to create an audible environment that will be exciting, alarming, and sometimes beautiful.

More information on the Terrible Noises series can be found at: www.schooloflearning.org.

Beneficiaries: Long Now Foundation, Arts Council of Sonoma County