Dana Reason
Encyclopedia
Dana Reason is a Canadian pianist and composer. She has been featured on National Public Radio (USA), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
and Radio Canada.
in Toronto.
Reason started her secondary studies at Barrie Central Collegiate Institute
where she played the trombone. But, after hearing her play the piano, she was encouraged by a substitute band teacher to apply at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Reason auditioned and was awarded a scholarship that allowed her to finish secondary school at the academy. It was during this time that she became interested in contemporary music composition, jazz and free jazz
.
After graduating from Interlochen at the age of 17, Reason met with pianist Boaz Sharon
from the University of Florida
. Sharon flew out to Toronto to audition her, and awarded Reason a scholarship to study classical piano at the university.
During her time at the university, Reason sent an audition tape to the Juilliard School
, and she was invited to start lessons that summer. Reason had wanted to attend Juilliard, but instead obtained a Bachelor of Music at McGill University
.
in Oakland, CA to study composition. Her main teachers were Pauline Oliveros
and Alvin Curran
. Studying piano with Julie Steinberg, she also had classes with Christian Wolff
, Cecil Taylor
, Frederic Rzewski
, and Glenn Spearman
before completing her Master of Arts in Composition.
for a Ph.D. While at UCSD, Reason studied both classical and contemporary piano with Alex Karis, as well as improvisation with George E. Lewis, Anthony Davis
and Muhal Richard Abrams
. In the spring of 1999 Reason organized a two-day symposium on improvisation to complement this research, entitled “Improvising Across Borders.” This event included more than a hundred participants, with 24 papers presented in concurrent sessions.
, and Philip Gelb. From 1998 until 2003 Reason toured extensively as part of "The Space Between Trio" featuring Pauline Oliveros
on the accordion and Philip Gelb on the shakuhachi
.
After giving several solo performances, Reason met bassist Dominic Duval
and drummer John Heward at Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival in 2004, where they performed as a trio for the first time. Soon after, the trio recorded their first CD, "Revealed (Circumvention)", as the Dana Reason Trio, but the CD was not released at that time. In addition to her performances, she was commissioned by Rova Saxophone Quartet
to write a composition entitled Transition in 2003, and to both improvise and interpret a 16-instrument score written by composer Sean Griffin for his project entitled “Snake River”, which was presented in the Disney Concert Hall Complex in Los Angeles in the fall of 2006.
Reason was hired by Oregon State University
’s Department of Music to teach and assist with several classes.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and Radio Canada.
Early life and career
Born in Canada, Reason began lessons on the piano at the age of 3 . Reason continued to compose throughout her primary school years, earning by age 15 an Associate Degree in Performance from the Royal Conservatory of MusicRoyal Conservatory of Music
The Royal Conservatory of Music is a music school and performance venue in Toronto, Canada. Other uses of the term include:*The Madrid Royal Conservatory, Spain*The Royal Academy of Music, London, United Kingdom...
in Toronto.
Reason started her secondary studies at Barrie Central Collegiate Institute
Barrie Central Collegiate Institute
Barrie Central Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The oldest school in Simcoe County, it was founded in 1843, and currently has an enrollment of about 1050 students. The administrative staff includes Mr. Russell Atkinson , Ms. Linda Kuehr and Mr....
where she played the trombone. But, after hearing her play the piano, she was encouraged by a substitute band teacher to apply at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Reason auditioned and was awarded a scholarship that allowed her to finish secondary school at the academy. It was during this time that she became interested in contemporary music composition, jazz and free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
.
After graduating from Interlochen at the age of 17, Reason met with pianist Boaz Sharon
Boaz Sharon
Boaz Sharon is a pianist, recording artist and professor of piano at Boston University as well as Director of Piano Studies at Boston University Tanglewood Institute...
from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. Sharon flew out to Toronto to audition her, and awarded Reason a scholarship to study classical piano at the university.
During her time at the university, Reason sent an audition tape to the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, and she was invited to start lessons that summer. Reason had wanted to attend Juilliard, but instead obtained a Bachelor of Music at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
.
Mills College
After earning her degree at McGill, Reason attended Mills CollegeMills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in Oakland, CA to study composition. Her main teachers were Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
and Alvin Curran
Alvin Curran
Composer Alvin Curran , is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of Musica Elettronica Viva, and a former student of Elliott Carter. Curran's music often makes use of electronics and environmental found sounds....
. Studying piano with Julie Steinberg, she also had classes with Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff may refer to:* Christian Wolff , German actor* Christian Wolff , German composer* Christian Wolff , American composer of experimental classical music...
, Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
, Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Anthony Rzewski is an American composer and virtuoso pianist.- Biography :Rzewski began playing piano at age 5. He attended Phillips Academy, Harvard and Princeton, where his teachers included Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and Milton Babbitt...
, and Glenn Spearman
Glenn Spearman
Glenn Spearman was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was specifically associated with free jazz and experimental music....
before completing her Master of Arts in Composition.
University of California, San Diego
Reason met George E. Lewis in the early 1990s at a festival in Tallahassee that featured his music. Lewis encouraged her to apply to the University of California, San DiegoUniversity of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
for a Ph.D. While at UCSD, Reason studied both classical and contemporary piano with Alex Karis, as well as improvisation with George E. Lewis, Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis (composer)
Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
and Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Free jazz medium. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces.- Biography :Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago...
. In the spring of 1999 Reason organized a two-day symposium on improvisation to complement this research, entitled “Improvising Across Borders.” This event included more than a hundred participants, with 24 papers presented in concurrent sessions.
Collaborations
Reason both performed with other musicians and composers during her time at UCSD, including Lisle EllisLisle Ellis
Lisle Ellis, is a Canadian composer and bassist who is known for his improvisational style and use of electronics.-Biography:...
, and Philip Gelb. From 1998 until 2003 Reason toured extensively as part of "The Space Between Trio" featuring Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music....
on the accordion and Philip Gelb on the shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
.
After giving several solo performances, Reason met bassist Dominic Duval
Dominic Duval
Dominic Duval is an American free jazz bassist.Since the 1990s, Duval has been active principally on the New York City jazz scene. He did not begin recording regularly until the 1990s, but since then has appeared on a very large number of albums, particularly on the labels CIMP, Cadence Jazz, and...
and drummer John Heward at Montreal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival in 2004, where they performed as a trio for the first time. Soon after, the trio recorded their first CD, "Revealed (Circumvention)", as the Dana Reason Trio, but the CD was not released at that time. In addition to her performances, she was commissioned by Rova Saxophone Quartet
Rova Saxophone Quartet
The Rova Saxophone Quartet is a San Francisco-based saxophone quartet formed in October 1977 at the same time as their "less adventurous" but better known colleagues the World Saxophone Quartet. The name "Rova" is an acronym formed from the last initials of the founding members: Jon Raskin, Larry...
to write a composition entitled Transition in 2003, and to both improvise and interpret a 16-instrument score written by composer Sean Griffin for his project entitled “Snake River”, which was presented in the Disney Concert Hall Complex in Los Angeles in the fall of 2006.
Reason was hired by Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
’s Department of Music to teach and assist with several classes.
Discography
- Revealed with Dominic Duval and John Heward, 2009
- The Space Between with Jöelle Léandre, 2003
- The Space Between with Matthew Sperry, 2003
- The Space Between with Barre Phillips, 2001
- Red Sauce Baby (as guest pianist), 2000
- The Space Between with Jon Raskin, 1999
- Musicworks 74 (excerpt of The Space Between Trio), 1999
- Border Crossings, 1997
- Children in Peril (as guest pianist), 1997
- Primal Identity, 1996
- Purple Wind (as guest pianist), 1996
- Da-Ro Re-Mix-Desire, 1994
- Hard into the Night- Remix, 1994
- Ya-Ya Re-Mix Mitsou, 1994
- Deep Into Your Soul. Remix of Fan.cie, 1994
Videography
- Off the RoadOff the RoadOff the Road: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg is an autobiographical book by Carolyn Cassady. Originally published in 1990 as Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg, it was republished by London's Black Spring Press, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of...
: Documentary film by Laurence Petit-Jouvet, France 2001, featuring musical collaborations with German bassist Peter KowaldPeter KowaldPeter Kowald was a German free jazz musician.A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with a large number of European free jazz and American free-jazz players during his career, including Peter Brötzmann, Irène Schweizer, Karl Berger, Fred...
List of Major Festivals and Performances
- Association des Musiciens Improvisateurs de Montreal
- Sound Symposium, Newfoundland
- Music Gallery, Toronto ON
- San Francisco Jazz FestivalSan Francisco Jazz FestivalDebuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education...
CA - Knitting FactoryKnitting FactoryThe Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
, New York City NY - Saide Bronfman Center, Montreal, ON
- Guelph Jazz Festival, Ontario
- Frau musica novaFrau musica novaFrau Musica Nova was a conference held in November 1998 at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, focusing on historical and living women composers. The conference consisted of both academic paper sessions and concerts, including a newly commissioned work by Pauline Oliveros....
, Cologne, France - Beyond the Pink Festival, Los Angeles
- Banff Arts Festival, Alberta
- Suoni Por Il Popolo, Montreal QC
- Place Gabriel, Paris, France
- Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, CA - Cal Arts, Valencia CA
- Mimi Jazz Salon, Los Angeles CA
- Meet the ComposerMeet the ComposerMeet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
, New York City NY - Radio Canada
- National Public Radio
Further reading
- “Take 5: Revealing and Reverberating: The Un-marketing of a Creative Improvisor.” Anthology on Gender and Jazz Studies. Edited by Sherrie Tucker, forthcoming, Duke University Press, 2005.
- Heble, Ajay, and Daniel Fischlin, ed. The Other Side of Nowhere: Jazz, Improvisation, and Communities in Dialogue (Middletown: Wesleyan U. Press, 2004) "Navigable Structures and Transforming Mirrors" Improvisation and Interactivity by Dana Reason
- “Interactive Technologies of Improvisation,” in The Other Side of Nowhere: Jazz, Improvisation and Cultural Theory. Edited by Ajay Heble and Daniel Fischlin. New York: Wesleyan University Press, Winter 2003.
- “The Myth of Absence: Representation, Reception and The Music of Experimental Women Improvisors.” (Dissertation), University of California, San Diego, 2002. Available at Jazz Studies Online http://jazzstudiesonline.org/?q=node/397.
- “Women, Words, and Music." Musicworks (Number 73, Spring 1999), 49-50.
- “Building Improvising Communities.” The Improvisor (September 1999), www.theimprovisor.com
- "Deep Listening Salad." 20th Century Music. (April 1998), 14.
- Aruna Handa. "Female Performers in Musique Actuelle." Gasp Magazine (Winter 1990), 13-15.