Join us for a talk given by Petr Kotík (b. 1942), flutist, composer and conductor who founded the S.E.M Ensemble, today the oldest and world-famous ensemble of new music in the USA, in 1970 in Buffalo.“The S. E. M. Ensemble presents the best of the experimental tradition,” New York Times wrote about the music ensemble, which performs around the world (and sold out Carnegie Hall). The African-American composer Julius Eastman (1940–1990) was a member of the original quartet. His composition for four pianos Crazy Nigger* is a part of the accompanying program of the Not Without Joy exhibition.

What was the collaboration like between the two musicians and what influence did Eastman leave in the work of Petr Kotík? Come and listen to an authentic and unique insight (not only) into the American avant-garde of the 1970s and 1980s. The talk will take place on Thursday, January 6 at 6:00 pm in Galerie Rudolfinum. 

Admission free, capacity limited. Please book your place for free online here.

The next performance of Julius Eastman’s Crazy Nigger in Dvořák Hall in Rudolfinum will take place on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 7:30 pm. You can buy tickets online here or directly before the concert at the Galerie Rudolfinum box office or the box office of the Czech Philharmonic. Before the concert, you can join a guided tour of the Not Without Joy exhibition with its curator and Galerie Rudolfinum director Petr Nedoma. Admission to the guided tour is free. More information here.

Before visiting Rudolfinum, please read the current hygienic rules. Participation in the talk, concert and guided tour is only possible upon presentation of a lab confirmation stating you have recovered from covid-19 not older than 180 days on the day of the concert; a covid-19 vaccination certificate stating that you have had the last dose (second in the case of two-dose schemes and first in the case of one-dose schemes) at least 14 days ago; a covid-19 vaccination certificate stating that you have had the first dose of a two-dose scheme together with a negative RT-PCT test not older than 72 hours; for young people aged 12 to 18, a negative RT-PCR test not older than 72 hours. 

*This is the original title of the composer. Julius Eastman deliberately exposed the term as racist, drawing the attention of non-black people in particular to structural racism and verbal violence. We therefore decided to write out Eastman’s original title in the context of the performance of his works.

Julius Eastman and Petr Kotík, photo by Ron Hammond, archive of S.E.M. Ensemble.