Terry Riley's 1964 piece In C is the work that ushered in the style of music now known as Minimalism. It consists of 53 short fragments of music played over a steady pulse; it can be played by any combination of instruments; to play the piece, everyone starts playing fragment 1, then moves to No. 2, on to No. 3, etc. Since not everyone chooses to move at the same time, no two performances of In C, even by the same ensemble, are ever the same. The piece is accessible, possibly psychedelic and definitely fun to play. Needless to say, there have been thousands of different performances, by rock bands, Japanese koto ensembles, a Chinese film orchestra, an early music ensemble and more.

But the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble (please, someone give that band a new name) has taken Riley's piece a step further, recording the work and then passing on that recording to 18 different contemporary musicians, composers and producers, all charged with remixing the performance. The result is a wildly colored, prismatic view of Riley's masterpiece. The actual performance by this mostly-student band, led by the indefatigable Bill Ryan, is a story in itself. A school… read more »