Responses

It was spring break 1985. I was studying at the Yale School of Music. And I heard that the Cal Arts Festival was going to bring Louis Andriessen to their festival and perform his monumental works De Staat and De Tijd. So Michael and I bought plane tickets to California, rented a car, and camped out in the Cal Arts parking lot. The pieces were played in a large open atrium and the audience was scattered throughout, sitting on the stairs, hanging over balconies, laying on the floor. The pieces were huge and bold and beautiful and resonant and awe-inspiring. I was enveloped in the sound, in the experience. Wow!
—Julia Wolfe
It was in Darmstadt sometime in the 90's. In retrospect I am pretty sure they booked the All-Stars to shake things up, create a stir. That happened. After the first piece half the audience applauded & the other half booed. This went on all night with ever increasing intensity and ever changing allegiances. At one point a guy got up and challenged the whole audience to walk out with him. No one went with him. Seems everyone else was interested in continuing the robust exchange. By the end of the night it was all but a riot. Pretty sure we played an encore. I wouldn't have missed that night for the world. - Mark Stewart
—Mark Stewart
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