Fred Frith—multi-instrumentalist, composer, and pioneer of the extended electric guitar—has been active for many years in the fertile margins of new music. Deeply involved in the art and craft of improvisation since the late 1960s, he has also maintained a strong connection with his roots in rock and folk music, through bands like Henry Cow, Art Bears, Massacre, Skeleton Crew, FF Guitar Quartet, Cosa Brava and The Fred Frith Trio. His compositions have been performed by Ensemble Modern, Ground Zero, Arditti Quartet, Robert Wyatt, Concerto Köln, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bang on a Can All Stars, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and many others. Film music credits include the acclaimed documentaries Rivers and Tides, Touch the Sound and Leaning into the Wind by Thomas Riedelsheimer, The Tango Lesson and The Party by Sally Potter, Werner Penzel’s Zen for Nothing, and the award- winning (and Oscar-nominated) Last Day of Freedom, by Nomi Talisman and Dee Hibbert-Jones. Fred has also created an extensive catalog of music for dance, notably for Amanda Miller’s Pretty Ugly Dance Company. He taught both improvisation and composition at Mills College for almost twenty years, as well as co-directing the improvisation master’s program at the Musik Akademie in Basel, Switzerland.
2pm: Lecture "Hierarchies", Green Room and/or Zoom
3:30pm: Improvisation Workshop (RSVP only), Lani Hall
5pm: Performance with SoM Students, Lani Hall
6pm: Dinner Reception, Green Room