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Oberlin Portrait: Jim Altieri
Story and Photo by Michael Chipman
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EXCERPTS These excerpts are taken from a December Improv Series concert Altieri performed with composer kate peterson (she prefers the lowercase spelling), a junior from Chesterfield, Missouri. Vocals, kate peterson; Computer, Jim Altieri. • Excerpt 1 56K
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(3:00) (quiet) RELATED
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In early February, Jim Altieri, a double-degree senior (geology/ TIMARA with composition minor) from Carmel, New York, journeyed to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where his three-screen, 14-minute video, created collaboratively with senior Mark Bartscher (Lawrence, Kansas), senior Eric Suquet (Miami, Florida) and Kristen Waite (Baltimore, Maryland), was showcased as part of the world premiere of composer Tania Leon's tribute to Nelson Mandela: At the Fountain of Mpindelela. The performance was part of Africa! Spirit Ascending, a celebration of traditional and groundbreaking New Music of South Africa, Zimbabwe and America. The celebration was presented by the Kennedy Center and the National Musical Arts (NMA) chamber music ensemble. Africa! Spirit Ascending is an offering of the Kennedy Center's four-year African Odyssey.
Other recent Altieri accomplishments of note include:
- Spent Winter Term 2000 in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, studying the geology of the island and its reef systems.
- Offered a live electronics performance in Concert #10 of the Improv Series with composer kate peterson.
- Member of the Javanese Gamelan players at Oberlin
- In October, Altieri composed and performed for percussionist Dave Schotzko's senior recital.
- Technical assistant for the September performance of John Luther Adams' "Ilimaq"
- In August, Altieri was featured in a Business Week cover story: 21 Ideas for the 21st Century in a piece entitled "On the Net, music is the ultimate metaphor."
- Conducted summer research on sea urchin taphonomy with geology professor Karla Parsons-Hubbard. (Taphonomy is the study of the conditions and processes of fossilization.)
- Performed live electronics on Tom Lopez's radio show FOLDOVER, offered, Monday's 3-5 p.m., on Oberlin's WOBC-FM 91.5.
- Performed live electronics on "Press the Button," an experimental radio show that airs Mondays, Midnight-3 a.m., on WRUW-FM 91.9 of Case Western Reserve University.
Last April, Altieri designed an live electronic performance system for Brenda Hutchinson's piece for long tube and electronics. Hutchinson, then- composer-in-residence, is now an Oberlin visiting professor.
Brenda Hutchinson watches as William Stevens '00 improvises with the long tube.
What is your first memory of
music?
When I was young, I had the game "Operation," which
would make this horrible buzzing sound when you made a
mistake. It was so upsetting to me that my parents had to
take out the batteries, and from then on we played on the
honor system. I am still such a wimp when it comes to harsh
sounds.
How old were you when you started
playing?
We had an old upright piano in my house and I was
banging on it from the time that I could reach the keys. I
started taking piano lessons when I was four, but I hated it
because the teacher was boring and very strict. I started
taking piano lessons again when I was seven, with a much
better teacher, and after that the instruments started
piling on at about one a year after that. I only stuck with
violin lessons through high school, but I still play all of
my instruments from time to time.
What inspired you to be a musician?
What keeps you inspired on discouraging days?
I remember when I was in second grade seeing a
third-grader carrying his violin in the case on my bus. I
thought he looked so cool, and I wanted to be that cool. So
next year I started playing the violin. Since I've been at
Oberlin, I've been mainly inspired by my friends and
colleagues in the new music division. It just blew me away
to arrive here and to live and eat with all these incredible
people with wildly creative and musical minds.
What is the most memorable
performance you have ever seen and why?
I have been treated to so many wonderful performances it
is hard to say precisely which one is the "most" memorable.
The premiere of Corey Dargel's "at least remain silent" in
Cincinnati was an intensely moving and inspiring
performance. Also, once in a single night I saw the Oberlin
performance of John Luther Adams' "Strange and Sacred Noise"
and a guest performance by Kaffe Matthews, an amazing live
electronic performer. The first concert was in Finney, then
Kaffe was at the 'Sco, so I got to experience two radically
different performances within an hour and 100 yards or so of
each other.
If you could perform with one
musician living or dead, who would it be and what would you
perform?
I really love playing with the people that I already
have played with, like the experimental group, les moutons,
of which I am a member, and I love to improvise with my
friends Rob Reich and Kate Peterson. Out of people with whom
I haven't yet played, I would really be happy to get a
chance to play with Mike Patton.
If you could master another
instrument, what would it be?
I haven't mastered any instrument yet, nor do I want to
have a master/slave relationship with any instrument. I do
want to be more comfortable with and expand the ranges of my
voice.
If you couldn't be a musician what
profession would you choose? Which profession would you
definitely not choose?
There's lots of professions that I would enjoy, and not
just as backups for a failed music career. I would like to
drive a freight train, or be a park ranger, or teach high
school science, or do scientific research, or be a music
critic, or be one of those people that tries to break stuff
for Consumer Reports. I would not enjoy a career that
involves dealing with money or commerce in
general.
What do you listen to after a long
day?
I listen to refrigerators. Anything with a pleasant 60
Hz tone will relax me. I also listen to the sounds that my
CD player makes when I put in CD's by Meredith Monk, Aphex
Twin, Bjork, Brian Eno, Tool, Michael Jackson, Mr. Bungle,
Miles Davis, and Kaffe Matthews.
What do you like to read?
I like contemporary fiction. Right now I'm into Richard
Powers. I also like non-fiction books about science and
nature. My favorite book of all time, though is "The Phantom
Tollbooth," by Norton Juster. I read that book at least once
a semester.
The three words that best describe
you:
Not good at counting.
