Archive: Arts & Entertainment

David Borden
The Cornell Department of Music and Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company. Over the span of two concerts on Friday, November 8 at 7:00pm at Barnes Hall and Friday, November 15 at 7:00pm at the Johnson Museum, the fabled synthesizer group performs pieces from founder David Borden’s The Continuing Story of Counterpoint on vintage instruments that include original Moogs, Fender Rhodes pianos, and more.

Mother Mallard was the first live synthesizer ensemble in the world and came about through Borden’s work with Robert Moog in Trumansburg. Among the first minimalist composers, Borden also established Cornell’s digital music program. The Continuing Story of Counterpoint was begun in 1976 and completed in 1987 and is comprised of twelve sections. Borden composed parts for each performer that could stand alone as solos but take on a different synergy when combined as a whole.

Mother Mallard most recently performed in Berlin in 2015, so this is a rare opportunity to hear the group, which for these performances will consist of Borden, David Yearsley, Blaise Bryski, Gabriel Borden, Richard Valittuto, Louise Mygatt, Tom Killian, Annette Richards, Roger Moseley, and Xak Bjerken. Attendees of the Johnson Museum performance should enter through the secondary lobby entrance, not the main lobby entrance.

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