Composer, instrument builder and Fluxus artist Yoshi Wada and composer Tashi Wada make a rare Chicago appearance—Yoshi’s first since ’93 and Tashi’s local debut. The father-son duo presents an evening-length performance for Lampo based on a loose, ever-shifting structure with a newly modified setup of sirens, alarm bells, audio generators, bagpipes and organ.

Yoshi Wada (b.1943, Kyoto, Japan) is a composer and artist associated with the downtown New York experimental art scene of the last fifty years. He studied sculpture at the Kyoto University of Fine Arts, and then moved to New York in the late 1960s. Wada joined the Fluxus movement in 1968 after meeting its founder George Maciunas. In the early 1970s he began building homemade musical instruments and writing compositions for them based on his personal research in timbre, resonance and improvisation with the overtone series. He studied music composition with La Monte Young, North Indian singing with Pandit Pran Nath, and Scottish bagpipe with James McIntosh and Nancy Crutcher. Wada has presented his work at The Kitchen, New York; New Music in America, New York; Whitney Biennial, New York; Akademie der Kunste, Berlin; Emily Harvey Gallery, New York; Biennale of Sydney, Australia; Festival d’Automne, Paris; PS1, New York; Venice Biennale; and AV Festival, Newcastle, UK. His recorded works are published by Japanese record labels EM Records and Omega Point.

Tashi Wada (b.1982, New York, N.Y.) grew up in New York and lives in Los Angeles. His compositions use apparently simple structures and carefully calibrated tuning systems to generate rich and unanticipated perceptual effects. Wada presents his music often in collaboration with other artists including Charles Curtis and Stephan Mathieu, in addition to performing regularly with his father Yoshi Wada. He also runs Saltern, an imprint of Important Records, which he started in 2014.

This performance is presented in partnership with Lampo. Founded in 1997, Lampo is a non-profit organization for experimental music and intermedia projects.

The Graham would like to thank Perrier for supporting our public programs.