24 January 2011, 6:00 to 8:00 pm: The Xenakis Project of the Americas, Pendragon Press, the Electronic Music Foundation, and The Drawing Center are delighted to invite you to a book signing event with Sharon Kanach for her book Performing Xenakis. The event will take place at the Electronic Music Foundation, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1402 (corner 28th Street), New York, NY. Conrad Harris (who has contributed to the volume) will perform some of Xenakis’ music at the event.

This volume, the second in Pendragon’s Xenakis Series, is a collection of essays by 30 contributors from 14 countries, all internationally recognized performers of Xenakis’ music. Many of these artists worked closely with the composer, and several works are discussed by their dedicatees. These testimonies prove, through real life experience and performance, the feasibility of realizing his “very difficult” writing, not only attested to by those close to Xenakis during his lifetime, but also by the younger generation that continues to be drawn to his music. Each essay gives a new perspective on what the composer was looking for, on ‘tricks of the trade’ for negotiating treacherously technical prowess, or on the attainment of an enhanced sense of self through the performance of this music.

Following an extensive preface by Kanach, who collaborated closely with Xenakis from the late 1970s until his death in 2001, the book is divided into chapters organized by family of instruments. Most instruments of the orchestra are discussed by their practitioners; issues unique to the voice as well as to the ensemble and orchestral works are explored, and two contributions concern the performance of Xenakis’ pioneering electronic works. An appendix of this entire oeuvre, retracing world premieres and respective performers, is included.