Thollem Workshops

Workshops/Lessons

Next Workshop April 9th University of Wisconsin Music Dept. Madison, WI Orquesta Libertad (Teatro Alcalá - Oaxaca, Mexico) Orquesta Libertad is a youth orchestra in Oaxaca that has been in existence for over 30 years. I was invited to work with them for a week. The workshop culminated in a concert in the old theater in the center of the city. It was the first time the orchestra had performed without sheet music and a conductor. They performed within a structure that they created. For sure one of the most rewarding experiences of my life! Past workshops o Jazzores Festival - Ponta Delgada, The Azores - Portugal o CalArts - Santa Clarita, CA - USA o Fylkingen - Stockholm, Sweden o Orquesta Libertad - Oaxaca, Mexico o Music Conservatory - Thessoloniki, Greece o Portland State University - Portland, OR - USA o The Shed - Dublin, Ireland o Trasporti Marritimi Festival, France o University of Ohio - Akron, OH - USA o Scuola Populare Di Musica Ivan Illich - Bologna, Italy o University of Illinois - Urbana, IL - USA o Tavola Tonda - Palermo, italy o Centre Municipal Culture et Loisirs - Gap, France o Centr'Arti - San Marino o High Mayhem - Santa Fe, New Mexico - USA o Improvisation methods utilized in both the Cologne School of Music and the Paris Conservatory. Centre Municipal Culture et Loisirs - Gap, France Brief Biography Thollem tours perpetually as a solo pianist, vocalist and collaborator regularly covering much of North America and Europe playing free music and free free free music. In the past 6 years, he has added 23 albums to his discography on 10 different vanguard record labels in 4 different countries. His musical experiences are extremely diverse and his ever expanding variety of approaches to making music result in dramatically new and different outcomes. He plays in punk clubs, museums, concert halls and riots. He works regularly with film makers, dancers, poets and painters as well as a wide array of divergent musicians. He has won numerous awards and is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical exchange. Not long after birth, Thollem began studying the keyboard repertoire from the medieval to the 20th century. After graduating with degrees in both piano performance and composition, he dedicated his time for years in grassroots political and ecological movements before returning to his own music with his full focus in 2006. He is currently touring perpetually as a soloist, in collaboration with many other individuals and groups, as well as leading large ensemble free improvisation workshops. Thollem performs in theaters, art galleries, universities, elementary schools, concert halls, jazz clubs, rock clubs, festivals, warehouses, house concerts, streets, prisons, forests, riots and on television, radio and the internet. He has performed piano concertos with symphonies, played in West African drumming troupes, Javanese gamelan ensembles, punk bands, free improv ensembles, and regularly collaborates as a comproviser for film and modern dance. Recent Awards: Meet the Composer: Creative Connections, 2007 Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: USArtists, 2009 - Estamos Ensemble, Director American Music Center: CAP, 2010 - 'Stirring Awake' debuted at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Countries Thollem has played: Canada, U.S., Mexico, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, France	The workshop begins with the inception of an ensemble of individuals and develops through collaboration to a full public performance. This is a laboratory that explores group collaboration, large ensemble improvisation (structured, conducted and free), egalitarian group dynamics consensus decision-making, and communication skills. Discussions can include the implications of improvisation, collaboration and active listening from everyday life to global political dynamics. It is open to anyone with these genuine interests regardless of age, language skills, perceived artistic abilities. The workshop can be presented in one of two ways (both are open to everyone regardless of their experience with collaboration and/or the arts): 1. Focus primarily on music 2. Focus on multi-disciplinary collaborations. Open to dancers, musicians, filmmakers, writers, actors and fine artists and more. Participants will leave the workshop with a greater ability to work collaboratively with others and to see their own ideas and projects through to their full realization. This practicum is specifically designed to empower individuals long after it has finished. Utilizing everyday sound sources, found objects and objects that already naturally exist in the space, the workshops also incorporate voices, traditional musical instruments, non-traditional instruments and ambient sounds that are occurring outside of the group and everything possible that we discover as an ensemble throughout the process. Overall, the emphasis is not necessarily on individual creativity but on the ability to listen and collaborate with others. This workshop encourages participation by anyone regardless of their musical experience, age, or language. Most importantly, the workshops develop organically from the input of the participants, a natural progression, a structured improvisation of its own… * Also offered: Individual lessons Workshops on traveling/touring * My mom was a piano teacher in the home and I grew up with lessons and piano music in the house, 6 days a week, hour after hour. When I was 13, I began teaching as well, taking on the overflow of students my mom's schedule couldn't accommodate. Teaching music is the family trade and I'm continuing this through my workshops. I have been collaborating and improvising since childhood, working/playing with a wide array of musicians, dancers, filmmakers, writers and painters. Recordings released with: Stefano Scodanibbio, Arrington deDionyso, John Dieterich, Vinny Golia, Pauline Oliveros, Joan Jeanrenaud, Ava Mendoza, Edoardo Ricci, Rent Romus, Jacopo Andreini, Joel Peterson, Nicola Guazzaloca, Matteo Bennici, Andrea Caprara, Theresa Wong, Joan Jeanrenaud, Pauline Oliveros, Jorge Torres Saenz, Ana Lara, Juan Felipe Waller, Glenn Weyant, Jon Brumit, John Niekrasz, Gregg Skloff, Mae Starr, Monte Trent Allen, Michael Carey, Hasan Abdur-Razzaq, Kurt Prisbee, Alexander Bruck, Julian Martinez, Carmina Escobar, Kjell Nordeson, Rick Rivera, Emilio Tamez and Tatsuya Nakatani Albums coming up with: William Parker and Nels Cline (Porter Records), Lukas Ligeti (Label TBD), T.D. Skatchit (Edgetone), Mike Watt, Tim Barnes, John Dieterich (Hand To Man Band - Post-Consumer), Arrington de Dionyso (Label TBD), Stefano Giust and Edoardo Marraffa (Amirani Records), Scott Rosenberget al (Label TBD), Skeeter Shelton and Joel Peterson (Label TBD) Live collaborators (not necessarily in order of importance): Alex Cline, Amy Denio, Faruq Z. Bey, Jad Fair, Ernesto Martinez, Eduardo Gonzales, Ravon Chacon, LaDonna Smith, Scott Looney, Jesse Rowland, Gino Robair, Jon Raskin, Ben Wright, Marco Eneidi, Tim DuRoche, Ron Stabinsky, Jack Wright, João Castro Pinto, Bruce Ackley, Greg Saunier, T.D. Skatchit, Chris Brown, Ernesto Gonzales, Laura Ortman, John Butcher, Luca Nostro, Paolo Ravaglia, dSCI, Joao Pedro Viegas, Gerard Cox, Adam Smith, James Cornish, Anthony Poretti, Andrew, D'Angelo, Rob Jost, Ullrich Mitzlaff, Syliva Tarozzi, Joel Grip, Adrienne Webster, Marko Novachkoff, Makoto Soto, Henry Kaiser, Ed Petterson, Pete Abbott, Tom Carter, Jeff Lederer, Mick Hobbs, Liz Albee, Billiana Voutchkova, David Michalak, Tom Nunn, Margaret Cassavetto, Abby Alwin, Carlos Santos, Dave Stone, Gianluca Gentili, Paulo Curado, Scott Amendola, Damo Suzuki, Carlos Zingaro, Daniel Carter, and Federico Ughi Film makers: Martha Colburn, Matthew Barney, Peter Sparling, Tuia Cherici, Carlos Sandoval and David Latreille Dancers (dance companies): Germaul Barnes (Bitahkiz Ayeli), Gary Masters, Peter Sparling, Viewsic Expressions, Black Bones, San José Cleveland Ballet, Limón West Dance Company

Next Workshop
April 9th
University of Wisconsin Music Dept.
Madison, WI

GapWorkshop
Orquesta Libertad (Teatro Alcalá - Oaxaca, Mexico)

Orquesta Libertad is a youth orchestra in Oaxaca that has
been in existence for over 30 years. I was invited to work
with them for a week. The workshop culminated in a concert
in the old theater in the center of the city. It was the first
time the orchestra had performed without sheet music and
a conductor. They performed within a structure that they
created. For sure one of the most rewarding experiences
of my life!

Past workshops
o Jazzores Festival - Ponta Delgada, The Azores - Portugal
o CalArts - Santa Clarita, CA - USA
o Fylkingen - Stockholm, Sweden
o Orquesta Libertad - Oaxaca, Mexico
o Music Conservatory - Thessoloniki, Greece
o Portland State University - Portland, OR - USA
o The Shed - Dublin, Ireland
o Trasporti Marritimi Festival, France
o University of Ohio - Akron, OH - USA
o Scuola Populare Di Musica Ivan Illich - Bologna, Italy
o University of Illinois - Urbana, IL - USA
o Tavola Tonda - Palermo, italy
o Centre Municipal Culture et Loisirs - Gap, France
o Centr'Arti - San Marino
o High Mayhem - Santa Fe, New Mexico - USA
o Improvisation methods utilized in both the
Cologne School of Music and the Paris Conservatory.

Gapensemble
Centre Municipal Culture et Loisirs - Gap, France

Brief Biography
Thollem tours perpetually as a solo pianist, vocalist and collaborator
regularly covering much of North America and Europe playing free music
and free free free music. In the past 6 years, he has added 23 albums
to his discography on 10 different vanguard record labels in 4 different
countries. His musical experiences are extremely diverse and his ever
expanding variety of approaches to making music result in dramatically
new and different outcomes. He plays in punk clubs, museums, concert
halls and riots. He works regularly with film makers, dancers, poets
and painters as well as a wide array of divergent musicians. He has
won numerous awards and is the founding director of Estamos
Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical
exchange.

Not long after birth, Thollem began studying the keyboard repertoire
from the medieval to the 20th century. After graduating with degrees
in both piano performance and composition, he dedicated his time for
years in grassroots political and ecological movements before returning
to his own music with his full focus in 2006. He is currently touring
perpetually as a soloist, in collaboration with many other individuals
and groups, as well as leading large ensemble free improvisation
workshops.

Thollem performs in theaters, art galleries, universities, elementary
schools, concert halls, jazz clubs, rock clubs, festivals, warehouses,
house concerts, streets, prisons, forests, riots and on television,
radio and the internet. He has performed piano concertos with
symphonies, played in West African drumming troupes, Javanese
gamelan ensembles, punk bands, free improv ensembles, and
regularly collaborates as a comproviser for film and modern
dance.

Recent Awards:
Meet the Composer: Creative Connections, 2007
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: USArtists, 2009 -
Estamos Ensemble, Director
American Music Center: CAP, 2010 -
'Stirring Awake' debuted at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Countries Thollem has played:
Canada, U.S., Mexico, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland,
Germany, Sweden, Austria, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, France

The workshop
begins with the inception of an ensemble of
individuals and develops through collaboration to a full
public performance. This is a laboratory that explores group
collaboration, large ensemble improvisation (structured,
conducted and free), egalitarian group dynamics consensus
decision-making, and communication skills. Discussions can
include the implications of improvisation, collaboration and
active listening from everyday life to global political dynamics.
It is open to anyone with these genuine interests regardless
of age, language skills, perceived artistic abilities.

The workshop can be presented in one of two ways
(both are open to everyone regardless of their
experience with collaboration and/or the arts):

1. Focus primarily on music

2. Focus on multi-disciplinary collaborations. Open to
dancers, musicians, filmmakers, writers, actors and
fine artists and more.

Participants will leave the workshop with a greater ability
to work collaboratively with others and to see their own
ideas and projects through to their full realization. This
practicum is specifically designed to empower individuals
long after it has finished.

Utilizing everyday sound sources, found objects and objects
that already naturally exist in the space, the workshops
also incorporate voices, traditional musical instruments,
non-traditional instruments and ambient sounds that are
occurring outside of the group and everything possible
that we discover as an ensemble throughout the process.

Overall, the emphasis is not necessarily on individual
creativity but on the ability to listen and collaborate with
others. This workshop encourages participation by anyone
regardless of their musical experience, age, or language.
Most importantly, the workshops develop organically
from the input of the participants, a natural progression,
a structured improvisation of its own…

Also offered:
Individual lessons
Workshops on traveling/touring
*
My mom was a piano teacher in the home and I grew up
with lessons and piano music in the house, 6 days a week,
hour after hour. When I was 13, I began teaching as well,
taking on the overflow of students my mom's schedule
couldn't accommodate. Teaching music is the family trade
and I'm continuing this through my workshops.

I have been collaborating and improvising since childhood,
working/playing with a wide array of musicians, dancers,
filmmakers, writers and painters.

GapWorkshop

Recordings released with: Stefano Scodanibbio, Arrington deDionyso,
John Dieterich, Vinny Golia, Pauline Oliveros, Joan Jeanrenaud, Ava
Mendoza, Edoardo Ricci, Rent Romus, Jacopo Andreini, Joel Peterson,
Nicola Guazzaloca, Matteo Bennici, Andrea Caprara, Theresa Wong,
Joan Jeanrenaud, Pauline Oliveros, Jorge Torres Saenz, Ana Lara,
Juan Felipe Waller, Glenn Weyant, Jon Brumit, John Niekrasz,
Gregg Skloff, Mae Starr, Monte Trent Allen, Michael Carey, Hasan
Abdur-Razzaq, Kurt Prisbee, Alexander Bruck, Julian Martinez,
Carmina Escobar, Kjell Nordeson, Rick Rivera, Emilio Tamez and
Tatsuya Nakatani

Albums coming up with: William Parker and Nels Cline (Porter Records),
Lukas Ligeti (Label TBD), T.D. Skatchit (Edgetone), Mike Watt, Tim
Barnes, John Dieterich (Hand To Man Band - Post-Consumer), Arrington
de Dionyso (Label TBD), Stefano Giust and Edoardo Marraffa (Amirani Records), Scott Rosenberget al (Label TBD), Skeeter Shelton and Joel Peterson (Label TBD)

Live collaborators (not necessarily in order of importance): Alex Cline, Amy
Denio, Faruq Z. Bey, Jad Fair, Ernesto Martinez, Eduardo Gonzales,
Ravon Chacon, LaDonna Smith, Scott Looney, Jesse Rowland, Gino
Robair, Jon Raskin, Ben Wright, Marco Eneidi, Tim DuRoche, Ron
Stabinsky, Jack Wright, João Castro Pinto, Bruce Ackley, Greg
Saunier, T.D. Skatchit, Chris Brown, Ernesto Gonzales, Laura
Ortman, John Butcher, Luca Nostro, Paolo Ravaglia, dSCI, Joao
Pedro Viegas, Gerard Cox, Adam Smith, James Cornish, Anthony
Poretti, Andrew, D'Angelo, Rob Jost, Ullrich Mitzlaff, Syliva
Tarozzi, Joel Grip, Adrienne Webster, Marko Novachkoff, Makoto
Soto, Henry Kaiser, Ed Petterson, Pete Abbott, Tom Carter, Jeff
Lederer, Mick Hobbs, Liz Albee, Billiana Voutchkova, David Michalak,
Tom Nunn, Margaret Cassavetto, Abby Alwin, Carlos Santos, Dave
Stone, Gianluca Gentili, Paulo Curado, Scott Amendola, Damo
Suzuki, Carlos Zingaro, Daniel Carter, and Federico Ughi

Film makers:
Martha Colburn, Matthew Barney, Peter Sparling, Tuia Cherici, Carlos Sandoval and David Latreille
Dancers (dance companies):
Germaul Barnes (Bitahkiz Ayeli), Gary Masters, Peter Sparling,
Viewsic Expressions, Black Bones, San José Cleveland Ballet,
Limón West Dance Company