thingNY collaborating with Orange Theatre and the Oh My Ears Marathon Concert

New York City violinist and composer Jeffrey Young is coming to Phoenix this month to perform with Paul Pinto, a fellow member of New York experimental music collective thingNY. This duo will make its Arizona debut with two projects: creating new collaborative work with Phoenix experimental theatre collective Orange Theatre, and performing a comedic, political experimental opera that they composed on the 3rd annual Oh My Ears marathon concert.

January 17-23, 2015: genre-crossing New York ensemble thingNY debuts in Arizona in collaborations with Phoenix experimental theatre company Orange Theatre and experimental music organization Oh My Ears

January 17-22, 2015
thingNY and Orange Theatre collaborative residency

January 22, 2015, 8pm
Public showing of work from thingNY-Orange Theatre residency
Orange Theatre
1711 W. Culver St. Unit 7
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Free, no tickets required

January 23, 2015, 12-10pm
Third Annual Oh My Ears Marathon Concert
Including a performance by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young of their experimental opera
Mesa Arts Center
One East Main St
Mesa, AZ 85201
Tickets $15 at the door or online at ohmyears.com

From January 17 to 23, Jeffrey Young and Paul Pinto, members of New York theatrical experimental music collective thingNY, will travel to Arizona to collaborate with Orange Theatre and Oh My Ears, two experimental art collectives that are reshaping the scene in the Phoenix metro area. Orange Theatre pioneers experimental, multimedia performance projects that local press have called “thought-provoking” and “surprisingly beautiful.” Oh My Ears supports new and experimental music in the Phoenix area by organizing an annual new music marathon concert and year-round events.

From January 17 to 22, Pinto and Young will be in residence with the seven core members of Orange Theatre at their home space in downtown Phoenix to explore how a theatre company and musical ensemble and can create new work collaboratively. For this brand new collaboration, their work together is funded by a grant from the Network of Ensemble Theaters, a national organization that exists to propel collaborative theater work to the forefront of American culture and society. The two ensembles will share methodologies, develop new performance exercises, and collaboratively create material around the theme of maps. A related topic to be discussed is how the physical layout and differences between the art scenes in New York and Phoenix deeply affect the work of each group, including the orientation toward public transit in New York and toward cars in Phoenix, the greater availability of space to work in Phoenix, and the higher concentration of experimental artists in New York.

The thingNY-Orange Theatre residency will conclude on January 22 with a public showing at 8pm of work developed over these six days. The showing will include an opportunity for members of the public to speak with the artists about their work.

On January 23, thingNY joins forces with Phoenix experimental music organization Oh My Ears (OME) for a performance on the Third Annual Oh My Ears Marathon Concert, which will take place from 12 to 10pm at the Mesa Arts Center. Young and Pinto will perform their work Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs, and a Healthy Environment: An Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young. Created in 2011 as a parody of contemporary politics and politicians, the half-hour piece focuses on issues of immigration and national identity. Young and Pinto collaboratively created the text, music, and staging, scoring the piece for their own voices, violin, percussion, a turntable, and lots of cardboard boxes. In …Patriots…, instrumental music alternates with sung and spoken words, zany and humorous topical quips alternate with personal, pointed critiques of the political zeitgeist, fully notated sections merge into structured musical and textual improvisations, and tonal harmonies mix with startling, untraditional musical effects. Young and Pinto’s performance of ...Patriots… is part of their first tour of the Southwest, with performances in Arizona, California, and Baja California including border towns on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border, where immigration is a daily conversation.