Music Concrete
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Fulcrum Point, made up of about 20 musicians, is an offshoot of a larger, more traditional group, the American Concerto Orchestra. Both were dreamed up by Burns after he joined Performing Arts Chicago as artist in residence in 1998. A composer, conductor, and virtuoso trumpet player, he was an Indiana University professor when PAC head Susan Lipman snagged him by asking, “In the best of all possible worlds, what would you like to create?” and then offering him the chance to do it. While the Concerto Orchestra was, Burns says, intended to “ease classical audiences into new music” by playing concerts that were about half new material, he wanted the chamber ensemble to “redefine the concert experience” by integrating multicultural music with poetry, art, film, dance, politics, and philosophy. (Its first concert, in November ’98, included a debate between architect Stanley Tigerman and composer Michael Dougherty.) Burns says it soon became apparent that it would be difficult to market the two groups simultaneously. By 2000 he’d decided to focus on Fulcrum Point, producing an annual series of innovative, critically acclaimed concerts.
Burns and Brown now run FP out of their homes, with the help of an intern. The budget, which has run between $150,000 and $225,000 the last few years, is likely to be double that by 2005. It costs $4,000 a day just to open the door at the Harris, and Burns says unpredictable operating costs can add 50 to 150 percent more–“the risk you run with a new space.” He insists Fulcrum Point will be back there next year, though he’s anticipating that they may have to shave a program off their already slender four-concert series to make it work. Nearly 500 people showed up for their opening concert in January–a gonzo program of music by Fela Kuti, John Cage, George Crumb, and Frank Zappa. The second program, early this month, drew a more typical crowd of just over 200.
Irene Zabytko was in New York promoting her second book last year when she took a walking tour of Greenwich Village hangouts frequented by Jack Kerouac. The tour, which cost $15 a head, turned out to be “boring–a bunch of places he got drunk in,” and she thought to herself, “Why wait till you’re dead? I can do better than that.” Zabytko’s When Luba Leaves Home, a collection of related short stories, is set in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village, where she grew up. And this Sunday, March 28, she’ll lead the first “Walking With Luba” tour. It’ll start on Chicago and Oakley, in front of Sak’s Ukrainian Village Restaurant (Steve’s bar in her book), and proceed to the Ukrainian National Museum, Saint Nicholas Cathedral, and other neighborhood spots featured–under changed names–in the tales. Zabytko says she’s hoping to interest the city in making the tour a regular event, to be conducted by herself if she’s in town (she now lives in Florida) or by friends who still live in the old neighborhood. The inaugural edition starts at 11 and is free; call 773-489-2986 for reservations.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Bruce Powell.
