A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Eagle-Lion Films Inc./Photofest ©Eagle-Lion Films Inc. Photo by Fred Daniels.

There are some old movies that just grab you—heart and mind—and carry you away before you even realize it.  This is one of those films, a British film made during the final days of World War II, that is still on the favorites list of British filmgoers 60 years later.  It is wonderful, especially on a big screen. Oliver Sacks, Martin Scorsese and Steven Sondheim loved it as teenagers.  Teachers–bring your students. Anyone looking for a great night out will be captivated by the drama, the humor, and love despite great difficulties.  If you would like to know more about the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, you will enjoy visiting The Powell and Pressburger Pages.

And if you want to enjoy the film without any more preconceptions, you can stop reading now.

I became interested in this film 22 years ago, having just put my 2-year-old son down for an afternoon nap.  I am a nurse practitioner with a specialty in neurology and epilepsy.  I just turned on the TV and began to enjoy an old movie I had never seen before. Suddenly I had one of those “Hang on!” moments. And then I saw several layers of this film unfolding at the same time—a wonderful love story, a magically impossible story, and a story of the 1946 frontier of British and American neuroscience  all mixed in together.  I have taught medical and nursing students and residents.  I know how difficult it is to master the nuances of neurology—and here it was all correctly portrayed in this film with both ease and intensity.

This started my research question—who did this—and why—and how?

Through my years of medical historical research, I have been stunned to learn that film historians and medical historians had no idea what was embedded in this acclaimed film.  If you are a person with interest in medicine, history, law, literature, astronomy or even chess, you may be watching this movie and have a flash of recognition.  Hang on—you might say to yourself—did they just show that person having a homonymous hemianopsia? Or using chess to make a statement about the French revolution? Or invoking legal or surgical procedures of Andrew Marvel in the cockpit of a British Lancaster bomber? The filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made a number of films together (including The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, I Know Where I’m Going and A Canterbury Tale) and one of their fundamental artistic convictions was that technical accuracy adds essential dramatic power to a story and draws people in, without their knowing why. Imagination, passion, creativity was not enough for the filmmakers. They needed the power of human intellect and life to make their works have special impact.  So for each film, they would consult with experts, such as a young Arthur C. Clarke for the opening sequence of A Matter of Life and Death,  as well as spend enjoyable research hours in the British Library and in used bookstalls.

Then Powell and Pressburger would jointly create a film with all the evidence of research erased, leaving its essence as the sinews of the work.  The credits would read “Written, directed and produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.” Oh yes, and they were doing this while V1 and V2 rockets were bombarding London.

I have worked backwards from the film to learn about its origins, and have published my findings in a neurology journal, and more recently in a book to help non-neurologists understand the wealth of details in this film.  I have new findings which I hope to present this summer at a film conference in Scotland. Along the way I have had the kind and generous assistance of many librarians including those at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library, the library at the IMA, and the British Film Institute. In addition there have been many kind people including Indianapolis residents Tom A.  Krudy, Nancy Eschelman, and Gerald Flack. Most importantly, I have had the kindest support of Oscar-wining film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, who was also Michael Powell’s wife in the last ten years of his life. At Friday’s screening, there will be a Skype conversation with Ms. Schoonmaker before and after the film with her.

But after having said all of this—just come see the film.  You will smile and laugh and cry.

The first color photograph, a tartan ribbon, using Maxwell’s method.

Maxwell’s idea was to use standard black and white film and to take three images: the first with a red filter, the second with a green filter, and the third with a blue filter.  It was a clever idea that merged the idea of art’s color wheel with the scientific ideas of light frequency.  Almost all color imaging uses Maxwell’s principles to this day.

When motion pictures were invented in the 1890s, there was once again a desire for color images.  By 1900, the Pathé company in France had designed an elaborate system to hand-color film frames with the use of stencils.  Others developed ways of tinting film to make certain scenes have a different artistic feel.

Still photographers had no trouble using Maxwell’s method of making color images, but it was more difficult for motion picture cameramen.  While the still photographer could simply load a new plate, put up a new color filter, and reshoot, the motion picture cameraman had to take at least 16 images per second!

By 1910, The Kinemacolor company perfected a way to synchronize a camera to take red and green alternating frames. It was the first system to record any form of actual color in motion pictures.  They were unable to make the third color, blue, work in their camera.  Kinemacolor’s owners discovered that the film could not move fast enough to record three images.  The film shredded in the camera whenever they tried it.

Kinemacolor was very flickery and required a special projector, two factors that caused it to be abandoned fairly quickly.  Given that it was a red and green process, it did not fully reproduce the color spectrum and gave even its best images a strange look, with greenish, washed-out skies.  Gaumont’s Chronochrome process solved the problem of film shredding by making the frames smaller, becoming the first viable three-color process, although it died out before 1920.  Its odd film size combined with the need for a special projector doomed it.

A 3-strip Technicolor camera from the 1930s.

Technicolor started up in 1917 and was able to record simultaneous red and green images.  They struggled with projection and printing issues throughout the 1920s, until they developed their dye transfer process in 1928.  Technicolor faced the same trouble that Kinemacolor had–they would destroy the film by recording three images on the same strip.  Red and green would work, but blue was out.  Technicolor immediately realized that their films must work in standard projectors without the use of special equipment, a factor that made their process more durable that others had been.

Several other rival color companies started up during the 1920s and 1930s, including Prizmacolor, Cinecolor, and Multicolor.  Again, these processes were only able to produce red and green images, without the full spectrum of color.  It was not until the introduction of Technicolor’s three-color camera in 1934 that the first viable full-color system came to the movies.  It was a smashing success and it rocketed Technicolor into profitability.

Technicolor’s solution turned out to be bulky and cumbersome, however clever it was.  Instead of using a single piece of film, the three-color camera used bulky optics to split the image so that it could be recorded simultaneously on three strips of film.  This meant that Technicolor had to be shot with a special camera that weighed several hundred pounds.  It also required much more light than black and white cameras: the lights often made the temperature on film sets rise over 100 degrees, and swimming star Esther Williams still has to wear protective eyewear because of her exposure to the lights.

Technicolor looked wonderful, with its rich hues and vibrant color, but Hollywood hated it because it was expensive and required special equipment.  When Kodak developed Kodachrome in 1935-6 there were high hopes that it would become the new standard.  Unfortunately, Kodachrome, which also produced beautiful, vibrant color, was difficult to process.  Hollywood needed something that was easy to process and could make good quality copies for distribution, both of which were difficult for Kodachrome.

It was not until 1948 that Kodak released its first Eastman color films, which were all that Hollywood had ever wanted–easily developed, easily copied, color prints.  As always, the ease of use and cost benefits came with problems.  Early Eastman color prints tend to be unstable.  Many films shot using the process have faded drastically, some irretrievably.  Still, it was so much easier and more flexible that most studios quickly favored Eastman color.

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," 1953.

By 1955, Technicolor discontinued its bulky, heavy three-strip camera.  They still were a dominant force in the color industry, because the studios discovered that their method of printing, their patented dye transfer process, produced superior color prints.  Eastman color prints, while nice, did not have the color range that Technicolor’s prints produced.  Technicolor maintained their dye transfer line until 1974 in the US, until 1977 in the UK, and until 1980 in Italy.  At that time, Technicolor became an Eastman color laboratory.  Eastman was cheaper and easier to process, and by the late 1970s, the color prints had improved significantly.

Film collectors and archivists still value the old dye transfer prints highly.  While Eastman color prints fade an unflattering pink color after 15 years or so, the dye transfer prints retain their full color range for many years.  Even some nitrate dye transfer prints from the 1940s still look as stunning today as they did when they came out.

Each color process had its own advantages and disadvantages.  Many of them have a distinctive look.  The History of Color in Film class on February 10 will showcase as many color processes as possible, mostly in original prints.  It will start with an actual, not Photoshopped, demonstration of Maxwell’s color experiment, and continue with examples of Technicolor (both two-color and three-strip), Cinecolor, Kodachrome, and Eastman color.  The class is designed to be as hands-on and non-technical as possible.  Come have fun and see how color changed the movies!

A few months ago, Richard McCoy – the IMA’s Conservator of Objects and Variable Art – and Tricia Gilson conducted a two part interview on Art21′s blog with Daniel Ostroff, a consultant for Herman Miller and producer/editor of EamesDesigns.com, a website rich with information about the Eames and their work. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s a must-read (part one here, part two here).

The IMA will continue the celebration of this dynamic duo tomorrow with a screening of Eames: The Architect and the Painter in the Toby at 7pm. Come and see if it sparks any ideas of your own. As Charles Eames said, “Ideas are cheap. Always be passionate about ideas and communicating those ideas and discoveries to others in the things you make.”

What about the earliest-known drawings? They exist in a cave in France, and are believed to be more than 30,000 years old. The newest film by documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog (of Grizzly Man fame) is a journey into the Chauvet Cave, and a reflection on the profound urge to represent reality—with pigment on a surface.

image courtesy IFC films.

Egged on by Herzog’s rapturous narration, the film’s camera washes over the cave paintings with lavish attention. Beasts of all sizes are depicted. Charcoal brush strokes capture the grace and strength of a horse in motion. Footprints hint at rites of passage and perilous journeys. The film is immersive; the drawings are ghostly, and yet so there. (Read reviews of the film here).

Cave of Forgotten Dreams premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. I saw it at the 2011 South by Southwest film festival and fell in love.

You can see it here at the Indianapolis Museum of Art any of four times between Christmas and New Years. Use it as an excuse to get out of the house and get a fat dose of profundity.

Lyle Tuttle

Whatever Lyle didn’t know, however, he did find a way to start his career in tattooing and by 1949 he was tattooing professionally after working under Bert Grimm. His first solo shop opened in 1954 and was located in a building next to the bus terminal in San Francisco. Lyle didn’t feel comfortable in the area and wanted a quick out in case he needed it. Being beside the terminal also brought him a lot of clientele. But what really changed the kind of clientele that walked into Lyle’s shop during the 1960s was the advent of women’s liberation. With women getting a new found freedom they could get tattooed, if they so desired. It greatly expanded the market, and according to Lyle, he tattooed nothing but women for three years.

Lyle tattooed Cher and Janis Joplin, as well as Peter Fonda and The Allman Brothers, just to name a few of the stars that helped bring about Lyle’s appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone in October of 1970, a first in major media coverage for any tattoo artist. This was followed by a front page article in the Wall Street Journal in 1971. This publicity was not only good for Lyle’s career, but for the entire industry as well, bringing information about tattooing to a significantly larger audience that until then had only the knowledge of old stereotypes that had been passed down over the years.

Then Lyle began traveling the world. During this time he tattooed on six of the seven continents, learning from those around him and sharing his knowledge and experiences. He brought these experiences back to the United States and began sharing them with other tattoo artists, participating in the first tattoo convention in the country.

Eventually Lyle started collecting tattoo memorabilia and currently has the largest collection in the world.  Some day this will be showcased once more, as it was in the 1970s when the upper floor of his building next to the bus terminal served as a museum. His collection of memorabilia and equipment is an important part of preserving tattoo history so that those who come after us, artist and enthusiast, can see how tattooing has grown from humble beginnings in back street shops frequented by sailors and criminals to a respectful art form enjoyed by all walks of life.

Over the years, Lyle has become a legend and a teacher for the tattoo industry, in which he participated as an artist until his retirement in 1990. To this day, he is still an active and important figure in the industry, as he still travels worldwide to speak on subjects from tattoo machine maintenance and building, to listening and talking to the younger generations about the art form. Celebrating his 80^th birthday this past October, Lyle is still going strong and looking forward to coming to the IMA for “Deep Ink” with Chief White Wolf James of the Eiteljorg Museum; Junii Shimada, a female tattoo artist from Japan now working in San Francisco; and myself on November 5^th, 2011, at 7 p.m. in the Toby.

The mission of the Indy Film Fest is to create a shared experience around film. Increasingly our fans and friends tell us they want more than just access. They want to participate in talks, meet-ups and to be part of a community where local filmgoers and filmmakers can connect and interact.

The IMA serves as the perfect setting for us to further our mission and provide just that type of interaction. With three theater spaces to screen films, meeting rooms for panels and Nourish Cafe for lounging, there are plenty of places for people to mingle during the festival. Not to mention the museum’s exhibits and green spaces – perfect refuges for thoughtful, inspired breaks between films.

The Indy Film Fest board and volunteers team have worked towards creating a more engaging and interactive experience for you, and this year’s lineup offers plenty to see on the screen and more to do in-between.

On the Screen

 Summer Nights
This is our first year to partner with IMA on their popular Summer Nights Film Series. We can’t imagine a more carefree, magical way to spend a summer evening than watching a good flick under the stars with a glass of wine from Nourish. First up, Clerks on July 15. Then, stay tuned for our Secret Screening on July 22. Will it be a cult classic, or something new? We’ll announce this very soon, but for now you’ll just have to wait and see!

 Subtitles, please!
In the Songs of Love and Hate, a teen daughter explores her sexuality amidst the backdrop of her family’s lush vineyard. It’s a dark portrayal of a father-daughter relationship toeing a taut rope-walk of tension, sexual and otherwise. I’m still mulling over the characters’ psyches. (For fans of Twisted Roots from the 2010 Indy Film Fest).

 Short Shorts
I’m a huge fan of the little film that packs a punch in two minutes or less. There are a few gems in this year’s fest that do just that, including Los Gritones. Sometimes sharing your love with the world isn’t as perilous as sharing it with the one you love. Watching people react to this film is just as joyous for me as the first time I watched it. (For fans of I want to Spend the Rest of My Life with You from the 2010 Indy Film Fest)

Still from short film "Los Gritones."

This is just small sample of the selections from this year’s fest. See the full lineup for the 2011 Indy Film Fest here.

In-Between & More

Panels and Talks Galore
Stick around after select screenings to catch visiting filmmakers offer a Q&A session in-house. For some filmmakers who aren’t able to attend, we arrange to Skype them in to answer your questions. Between these Q&As, panels, and workshops, we’re building in more ways for you to learn about the craft that goes into the films.

If you hung out at the festival last year, chances are you met Ryan Andrew Balas or saw his world premiere of Everyone Say I Look Just like Her. This year, he’s offering our first ever Skyped-in workshop titled “Hits, Likes and The Really Cool Show“ to talk webisodes and more. He’ll share a few of The Really Cool Show episodes featuring local Indianapolis talent, as well as tips on keeping a show alive and well on the internet.

Ryan Andrew Balas, second panelist from left, participates in a filmmaker panel at the 2010 Indy Film Fest.

 Snap-Happy
Have your own Hollywood moment and get your picture taken on our red carpet in the IMA lobby. Be sure to get your photo snapped at our new Spinshot photo booth sponsored SmallBox, which will be set up at our opening and closing night parties.

 Mix and Mingle
New festival partner RJE Knoll is outfitting IMA’s Fountain Room with some swank furniture to help create the 2011 Festival Lounge. This will be the place to be between screenings to catch up with friends, chat about the films, and maybe meet a director or two! Pair a Sun King, our Official Beer of the Fest, with popcorn from Just Pop In, and relax to the tunes of DJ TwinPeaks with shufflers from My Old Kentucky Blog (MOKB) mixed in. The lounge will be open July 15-17 from 4 to 11 p.m.

Still looking to hang out? Once the movies have ended each night, you want to talk about what happened, mix with other local film lovers and keep basking in the vibe of the festival. Meet up at the official after-party spots for drinks and good times. You might even get to hob-knob with a director or actor from the film you just watched!

 Get the Conversation Started!
Follow the fest on twitter @IndyFilmFest and use the hashtag #indyfilmfest to keep up with what’s going on. Get started by letting us know what you’re most looking forward to about the fest this year. We’d love to hear from you!

IndyChannel recently launched their A-list ballot for 2011 – a yearly poll that highlights the best of Indy. The IMA is proud to say that we have been nominated as a contender for best museum. The wide-ranging list below, in the form of a TOP ten, are just a few reasons why you should vote in support of the IMA as Indianapolis’ BEST museum. We know you already agree but we hope to reassure you anyway.

10. First and foremost, the IMA is an ART museum, even though it provides films, talks, events, galas, and workshops that may convince you otherwise, the enormous and comprehensive collection is at the heart of our existence. The IMA strives and achieves in providing an art museum environment that is friendly and non-threatening to those without an artistic background, embracing the community as a whole. Those with a love and passion for the arts can mingle amongst peers and schedule an entire weekend of events solely with IMA activities.

9. The IMA has had a remarkable year which included a recent performance at the Venice Biennale, representing the US on a global venue. As you know, the IMA has been working tirelessly on this event, which has garnered amazing responses to Allora & Calzadilla’s works. The IMA represented Indianapolis and the US in an authentic and innovative way through this artistic duo. Did I mention the IMA represented the ENTIRE UNITED STATES? Just checking.

Photos by Andrew Bordwin.

8. In recent years, the opening of the Randall L. and Marianne W. Tobias Theater, aka The Toby, has drawn some big-named speakers into our Indianapolis sphere. Most recently Stefan Sagmeister came to speak about design and happiness from his personal studio, Sagmeister Inc, which was founded in 1993. Sagmeister has designed for the likes of The Rolling Stones, HBO and the Guggenheim with his maxim’s made of both conventional and unconventional mediums using his words and design as a “tool for social renewal.” The Toby has also hosted, Temple Grandin, a woman living with Autism, who is praised with her humane design for handling livestock facilities. An HBO film biography on her won seven Emmy awards! With an amazing turn out for the Toby’s first year (almost 37,000 visitors) the future only looks brighter. Who will the Toby draw in next?

7. Not only does the IMA host galleries filled with ancient arts and artifacts from cultures around the world, it also hosts its own contemporary art wing from a world-wide net. Do-Ho Suh’s contemporary work, Floor is  a very awe inspiring piece. Viewers are allowed and meant to step upon this expansive platform where hundreds of male and female figurines seemingly hold you up. The hundreds of figures that cover the underside of the 32 individual squares allow each viewer’s weight to be held up by their tired plastic arms. The IMA has a contemporary collection worth noting as well as artist showcases, presently being Mr. Thorton Dial—whose exhibition Hard Truths runs through September 18.

6. Spring has sprung and summer is fully fledged! 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park is an amazing outdoor experience that is definitely worth its own visit to the IMA. On these beautiful Indianapolis summer days, 100 acres is a perfect getaway from the bustle of the city (even just for a few hours)! With eight sight-specific works commissioned, the park shows how art and nature intertwined in a contemporary style. Joep van Lieshout, with his studio Atelier van Lieshout, created Funky Bones, and interactive large-scale sculpture of a Halloween-esque skeleton to be multifaceted, as both art and as functional benches. Plus, where else can you row out to an artist-inhabited island? Pretty sure we’re the only one.

5. In 2008 the IMA was named an Energy Star partner with a pledge to reduce energy consumption. In turn, we reduced natural gas consumption by 48 percent and electricity by 19 percent. In 2010 the IMA was named one of 11 museums to receive recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency which sparked the IMA’s own “greening committee”- displaying art and protecting the environment, one day at a time.

4. We love to collaborate! The Indianapolis International Film Festival has again paired with the IMA’s Toby theatre and DeBoest Lecture hall and will be running from July 14-July 18. This festival will show films from all over the world of varying genre, skill level and lengths. From one minute films (Check out Dinosaur Ballet) to full length feature films, this festival will have a film to suit everyone’s taste. The IMA bringing a small piece of the world to you through this collaboration is sure to be an eye-opening experience. (It also includes a film by one of the IMA’s own staff, be sure to check out Type A!)

3. A certain buzz has been generated from the unveiling of the enigmatic Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. This acquisition marks an expansion that the IMA knows no bounds and will restore and display art of many forms while also showcasing Indiana’s architectural gem, the city of Columbus itself.

2. Summer Nights is a summer film series that has been widely received by the Indianapolis community. Not only can you sit amongst your friends, and enjoy a great film in the evening, but you can lounge in an amphitheatre setting reminiscent of the ancient Greeks and enjoy food and refreshments. This series is widely popular and lets you escape from the air-conditioned doldrums of the standard blockbuster while enjoying an acclaimed film and a nice summer breeze. Are you convinced yet?

1. In the words of a beloved YELP reviewer: “…an art museum that’s free? Must be a joke or not worth going to. Turns out that I was wrong.” You heard right, to everyone’s utter amazement and enjoyment, admission is FREE! VOTE NOW for the IMA as the BEST Museum in Indianapolis!

When I was a kid my all-time favorite movie was the 1982 musical Annie. I loved everything– from the drunken Miss Hannigan, to Annie and her curly red hair and spunky attitude. So when I started doing my research for Indianapolis Opera’s upcoming production of La Traviata, I was thrilled to find a connection to my childhood favorite.

One of the things I love about opera is its tendency to permeate all different aspects of life. La Traviata actually began its existence in 1848 as a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Le Dame aux Camélias or The Lady of the Camellias. The novel was such a hit that it was quickly adapted for stage – The Lady of the Camellias premiered at Théâtre de Vaudeville in Paris in 1852. The stage play was such a success that Giuseppe Verdi turned it into the opera La Traviata, premiering in 1853. The tragic love story is so engaging, there have been approximately twenty different movie adaptations – the most famous being the Academy Award nominated Camille, premiering in 1936 and starring Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor.

Which brings me back to Annie – about half way through the musical, Daddy Warbucks, Grace and Annie go to the movies, and it’s everything I wanted the movies to be as a kid – ushers in tailcoats, Rockettes, glamour and movie magic. The oh-so-romantic black and white movie they were seeing was Camille.

Released during the golden age of cinema, Camille tells the story of Marguerite Gauthier (Greta Garbo), a glamorous and charming Parisian courtesan. Camille is a kept woman and her lifestyle is financed by the wealthy Baron de Varville (Henry Daniell) – who she meets, incidentally, at the opera – until she falls in love with the handsome Armand (Robert Taylor). Camille is ready to give up her lavish lifestyle to be with Armand until Armand’s father (Lionel Barrymore) begs Camille to turn away from his son, knowing her past will ruin his future in Paris. You’ll have to join us at the Toby to see what choice she makes.

This film is full of classic Hollywood drama and is a great preview to Indianapolis Opera’s final production of the season, La Traviata. Join us on May 5 for Camille at the Toby and for La Traviata at Clowes Memorial Hall on May 13 and 15. Tickets are available at indyopera.org or the Clowes Memorial Hall box office.

"Heaven and Hell on Earth," 1995. Corn husks, corncobs, dried mushrooms, roots, burned wood, clothing, bedding, toys, wire, metal, fabric, Christmas tree ornament, rope, carpet, paintbrush, other found materials, oil, enamel, spray paint, and industrial sealing compound on canvas on wood. Collection of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation.

In the same way, to talk about Thornton Dial, to consider the artist’s place both removed from and edging into the mainstream art world, to put into context his work and view of the world, and relate it to broader truths about American art, culture, history,  and values—it’s an exciting  and meaningful challenge.  But Rome wasn’t built in a lunch hour lecture.  So we’re giving it a day.

This Friday at the Toby is the big event:  Hard Truths: A Forum on Art and the Politics of Difference.  It’s not a straight-forward symposium.  There will be a podium, yes, and a succession of first-rate deep thinkers who will approach the topics of the day from a variety of fascinating perspectives.  But discussion sessions will also keep things very lively.

For example, Julian Bond, American civil rights all-star, will connect Dial’s experience and presentation as a black artist to the history, present, and future of the modern civil rights movement. Bond will then go straight from the podium into a conversation with forum speaker Greg Tate (his talk title: Neo-hoodoo Imaginations and Hollering Bebop Ghosts in the Southern Black Visionary Tradition). Important thinkers from the local community have also been invited, such as Roderick E. Bohannan, attorney with Indiana Legal Services, Inc., who will join Bond and Tate onstage. Audience members will be welcome to join in. IUPUI professor Modupe Labode will moderate these open discussions.  It’s fair to anticipate a slew of audience members with arms up in the air ready for the next available microphone. And each session’s speaker and discussions with take the conversation down another exciting path.

Moving from one talk to the next, we may find ourselves wishing for a moment to return to a topic that was deferred due to time. There will be great opportunities to revisit. First among these: included with the forum ticket is admission to the Dial exhibition. I’m telling you, you need more time in there. Later, after a nice break for dinner, Forum speaker Theaster Gates and ensemble The Black Monks of Mississippi will take the stage (again, included with the forum ticket) to perform And the Whole Yard Said Amen in response to Dial and the day. What happens when you intertwine the sounds and moods of southern gospel and eastern chanting and add a layer of blues? Come and find out. To further celebrate all this, we’ll next move from the Toby to a catered reception in the museum’s Nourish Café. Great conversations will recommence.

Hope to see you there. We need to talk.

Working with living composers is, hands down, the best part of my job. Young or old, famous or totally unknown, bright-eyed or curmudgeonly, supportive or critical, it is always an eventful artistic road trip.

Composer Steve Reich was a boyhood hero of mine, so when we had the opportunity to work with him on Double Sextet, his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2008 piece that ends our concert at the IMA, I was full of nervous excitement. We’d been warned about his uncompromising vision, mostly via fifth-hand rumors that were some variation of, “He’s really demanding, and will freak out if he isn’t happy with what you’re doing.”

Reich was much more hands on than was typical for composers of his stature. Although he wasn’t ever actually in the room with us until the day of the premiere, we sent him rough recordings from our rehearsals at every step in the process of preparation, from the day of our the first Double Sextet rehearsal. He would offer us comments in detailed, illuminating emails, and we would try to respond to these concerns in further recordings.

Here’s an example, from a January 2008 email:

“Winds, strings and vibes from 409 – 432 are a bit ‘blocky.’ Try to always have the music ‘leaning forward’ vis a vis the beat and not right on top of it, hammering it. Light and always moving ahead (not rushing) wins the day.”

And another:

“When strings and winds come in at 537 its a bit too ‘espressivo’ – just a bit cooler will do it. Held notes have no crescendo – just evenly held. Think baroque.”

Both emails created heated arguments, and we went back and forth several times with Reich until he was happy.

Why does Reich get so involved in this process? Forty years ago, Reich’s house band, the Steve Reich Ensemble, was the only group performing his music. They evolved a distinctive sounding “house style” with its own unique energy. Compositions like Drumming and Music for 18 Musicians were developed without much recourse to the printed page. This intense, collaborative process led to a certain energy and style of playing that have become inseparable from the music, and Reich perhaps feels that it is his responsibility to pass this down to all ensembles that are encountering his work for the first time. This can ensure a sort of “legacy” for performances of his music during the composer’s lifetime, but what about well into the future?

And those rumors of Steve as an unreasonably hard taskmaster? Hugely exaggerated. After this exhaustive, intense process of preparation we were all a little jittery about what the composer might say when he heard us play the piece live. At the end of the Double Sextet dress rehearsal, at which the composer was present, Reich’s only reaction was, “Wow, fantastic. I really have nothing to say.”