May Meeting Notice

May 2001 Meeting Notice

What Does Music from Euro-American Culture Have to do With Nature?

Bernie will discuss the relationship between western music and sounds from nature.

Bernie Krause appeared in his first public performances in the early 1960's, when he replaced Pete Seeger in the world-renowned folk group, The Weavers. In 1966, with his late partner, Paul Beaver, Krause was pivotal in the introduction of the synthesizer to the music, film and broadcast media. Their first album, The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music (NS 1967), held a top position on industry best seller charts for over half a year, and is still considered a standard reference in the annals of music history. In the years since, Krause has recorded 43 albums on his own label and numerous others, including Warner Brothers, Nonesuch, Rykodisk, and The Nature Company; collaborated on recordings with more than 75 noted artists; and contributed to the sound tracks of and 160 major feature films and television productions both here and in Europe, including such landmark productions as Apocalypse Now, Dr. Doolittle, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Love Story, and Rosemary's Baby.

In the late 1960's, Krause began his ground-breaking life work in bioacoustics and the recording of environments throughout the world, much of which has been accomplished with techniques and technologies for recording, analyzing, and presenting habitat- and species-specific sounds that Krause has developed on his own. His album, In a Wild Sanctuary (WB, 1970), earned a place in history as being the first recording to use environmental sounds as both a central component of orchestration and as a statement about the environment. Under the company name Wild Sanctuary, Inc., Krause continues to share his compelling field experiences through his musical albums and dramatic sound installations in public spaces such as museums, zoos, and aquaria. Krause holds a Ph. D. with an Internship in bio-acoustics from Union Institute, Cincinnati.

Among Krause's other notable and diverse achievements include 10 albums for The Nature Company that have enjoyed tremendous success (over $7 million gross sales), national recognition as the "Pied Piper" whose audio wizardry lured Humphrey the Wayward Humpback Whale from the Sacramento River Delta back to the Pacific Ocean, and the audio technology innovation known as the Intelligent Sound System an automated system for public exhibitions and installations that creates non-redundant audio recreations of the natural environment. Krause's Music and Word Series captures the unique cultural sounds of several overlooked and endangered human groups, including the first publicly available documentation of the spoken work and traditional songs of this now-extinct culture under the title Ishi: The Last Yahi. Krause is also a widely published author, including his seminal article introducing a controversial theory on human musical evolution called "The Niche Hypothesis."

Today, Krause and Wild Sanctuary, Inc., remain as committed as ever to the creation of new music and site-specific work designed to heighten awareness and appreciation of the natural environment.

Directions

http://www.dolby.com/company/directions_sf.html

From Peninsula/S.F. Airport/Silicon Valley (Hwy. 101 North) Take Vermont Street Exit. Make immediate left onto Vermont Street. Go 5 blocks and turn left onto Alameda Street. Three blocks up is Potrero Avenue. Dolby is the large, red, 3-story brick building on the corner of Potrero and Alameda.

From Bay Bridge (Hwy. 80 West) Take 9th Street/Civic Center exit. Go to the south onto Harrison Street. Follow Harrison to 10th Street. Turn left onto 10th Street and proceed under freeway overpass onto Potrero Avenue. Dolby is the large, red, 3-story brick building on the corner of Potrero and Alameda.

From Golden Gate Bridge (Hwy. 101 South) Cross Golden Gate Bridge, take the Lombard Street (Hwy. 101) Exit. Follow Hwy. 101 signs up Lombard to Van Ness Avenue. Turn right. Proceed on Van Ness to Fell Street and turn left. Proceed on Fell until it crosses Market Street and becomes 10th Street. Continue on 10th under freeway overpass and bear right onto Potrero Avenue. Dolby is the large, red, 3-story brick building on the corner of Potrero and Alameda.

Address:
Dolby Laboratories
100 Potrero Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94103-4813
415-558-0200