And you thought that saws were just for building and fixing things? We are big proponents of imagination and creativity here at GFM and this event fits the bill squarely in both categories.
From the media release…
8th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival
Concert & art exhibit revolving around the 300 year old art of playing music on a carpenter’s handsaw – Saturday, August 7th, 2010, 2pm.
The festival includes world premiers of music written especially for the musical saw (including a piece for 3 musical saws), as well as the ‘Chorus of the Saws’ – all musical saw players playing together.
Musical saw solos & ensembles, performing many music styles (jazz, classical, pop, folk, show-tunes, etc.) performed by musical saw players from all over the world.
Also – ‘Ameriklectic’ – a 10 piece jazz band featuring the musical saw (Natalia ‘Saw Lady’ Paruz) as the lead instrument.
The festival is made possible by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and the NY State Council on the Arts.
The art form of making music with a carpenter’s handsaw has been around for 300 years. For the past 8 years Astoria (Queens) became a pilgrimage spot for musical saw players from all over the world. Last year the festival got into the Guinness Book of Records for the ‘Largest Musical saw Ensemble’ with 53 saw players playing together, beating the previous record from Poland (28 saw players).
Where: Hellenic Cultural Center, 27-09 Crescent Street (corner of Newtown Avenue), Astoria, NY 11102
(‘N’ train to 30th Ave)
Admission: $10
Info: www.MusicalSawFestival.org
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
