Just as the lightning and its flash are one and the same thing, and not two separate things, so, in conducting, the conductor's conception of the work and its materialization in the orchestra must flash forth simultaneously. (Hermann Scherchen, Handbook of Conducting)

VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) and SOUNDFAIR are pleased to announce The Lightning and its Flash (Solo for Conductor) by Ari Benjamin Meyers. This is the fifth movement of SYMPHONY, a performance series initiated in September 2010 and continuing through June 2011.

Musicians, composers, and visual artists were invited to make works that expand on the traditional concepts of concert and exhibition, and to present these works as unique events, or movements, in the gallery. Exploring new strategies and situations in performance, each movement of SYMPHONY plays with - or against - an idea of conversion: each musician is confronted with a new staging, which does not resemble a typical concert; likewise, each artist risks a step into the musical world, disregarding the notion that artworks exist as purely visual strategies.

Movement V of SYMPHONY is the premier performance of Ari Benjamin Meyers' original score, The Lightning and its Flash (Solo for Conductor). As conductor, Meyers will perform his score before an audience seated like an orchestra. The score functions formally as a composition, employing musical nomenclature to describe with a minimum of information what is to be conducted. Yet the resultant work is silent, relying on the movements of the conductor rather than sound to convey the composer's "music". The Lightning and its Flash (Solo for Conductor) is, like any conventional music score, open to interpretation by the performer (who in this instance is also the conductor). The work demands that the audience step out of its typically passive role to perform, as each individual will create or "hear" his own score, directed by the conductor. Like "the lightning and its flash" described by Scherchen, the materialization and conception of the score is a single act shared by conductor, performer and audience.

Ari Benjamin Meyers' work is a form of productive sabotage that plays on an audience's expectations. He is continually developing musical and performative concepts that push the boundaries of current genres, expanding on his education as a conductor and composer. Born 1972 in New York, he studied at The Juilliard School and Yale University before traveling to Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar in 1996. In 2007 he served as music director for Il Tempo del Postino, part of the inaugural Manchester International Festival, where he worked closely with Matthew Barney, Olafur Eliasson, and Tino Sehgal, among others. With Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster he created two staged performances, NY.2022 for the Guggenheim in New York City and K.62/K.85 , which was commissioned by Performa '09. Currently he is collaborating with Anri Sala and Sejla Kameric on the Artangel-commissioned film, 1395 Days Without Red.

SYMPHONY is an ongoing collaboration between VW (VeneKlasen/Werner) and SOUNDFAIR, a Berlin-based exhibition collective whose aim is to re-contextualize music through its presentation as unique artworks. In June Anri Sala will present the sixth and final movement of SYMPHONY. Please visit vwberlin.com or soundfair.net for more information.

The Lightning and its Flash (Solo for Conductor) begins promptly at 19.30. There is no admission once the performance commences. Seating is very limited. Please RSVP to info@vwberlin.com.