Claire Chase, ICE’s Executive Director, returns to Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago to premiere a new work for solo flute by Marcos Balter, as well as works by Xenakis, Reich and Takemitsu. Below is Claire’s take on the upcoming concert and a little insight into a few of her favorite things.

 

 

What is the most challenging part of the “AIC: Return From Parnassus” concert for you? Why?

 

Marcos [Balter] asks me to recite a Dante text into the instrument, over the instrument, through the instrument, sometimes in conjunction with difficult played passages (a physically impossible act, but the effort to achieve it produces fascinating results), and other times in rapid succession with flute notes, creating a contrapuntal texture. There is nowhere to breathe, so I've chosen to inhale certain spoken or sung pitches instead of exhaling them, so as to eliminate any break between the lines - this sounds really cool, but the act dramatically increases your chances of literally choking. So, the piece requires some choking-management-techniques. I might hang a Health Dept poster up in the hall with instructions on back blows and abdominal thrusts, just in case.

 

What was the most thrilling part of your collaboration with Marcos Balter?

 

Working with Marcos is kind of like doing a high-wire act - he is always imagining impossible things, and yet he has this joyful, irrepressible optimism about the prospects of executing these impossible things. This combination of audacity and curiosity is a thrilling collaborative space.

 

What is best audience reaction you've received after an ICE performance?

 

"I hated that, but...I want more!" 

 

Have you seen a good movie lately?

 

Almodovar's "The Skin I Live in" - dark, terrifying and unbelievably beautiful.

 

What is your favorite album at the moment?

 

Paolo Pandolfo's six Bach cello suites (played on gamba). My old theory professor, Brian Alegant, played it for me last weekend in Oberlin on his monster sound system and I plotzed. It was as if I was hearing these pieces for the first time.

 

Where is your favorite place in Chicago to grab a post-concert drink?

 

Big Chicks! The owner, Michelle, was one of my business role models when I moved to Chicago post-school and started ICE.