Paul Rudy is the recipient of the 2010-11 Elliott Carter Rome Prize in Musical Composition. He arrived in Rome last September from Kansas City where he is a Professor at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri.
Paul describes the past seven months of his Rome Prize Fellowship year as a seamless flow starting with his morning rituals in his studio in the Casa Rustica, to composing, to fellowship and exchange with his peers. “Creativity and imagination seem to seep into my being from the ether, and nothing is separate from what is meant to be. I am truly blessed to be with a group of extraordinarily wonderful people -- from the staff to the fellows to the wonderful leadership team. I still pinch myself, look around, smell the air, feel the energy, and then flow right back into creation.”
In the past three years, Paul has composed four CD length works in a series called 2012 Stories, a multi-faceted single work (eventually 9-11 hours long), which is international in scope. These compositions have been supported by commissions and residencies including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008. The 2012 Stories project has taken Paul to Taos, New Mexico, Bourges, France, and now Rome.
Click here for an excerpt from Paul Rudy’s Cannac: There is no form without spirit, composed last fall at the AAR.
Paul came to the AAR with a specific list of tasks he wanted to accomplish during his fellowship. His 2012 Stories CD No. 5 Cannac (Mayan for “there is no form without spirit”) was completed a few months ago and he will be recording the live components at Paola Pivi’s installation Grrr (Rotterdam) in May. He performed the first half of that on Nuova Consonanza’s Marathon Concert in November. Meanwhile, CD No. 6 Kinan (or “solar winds”), a collaboration with Taos Gong Artist Heidi Svoboda, is in progress and Paul expects to finish it by the time he leaves this summer. He is also made significant strides on a concerto for jazz great Bobby Watson as well as the music for an innovative collaborative dance program in Kansas City called WE!. Featured in that piece is a beautiful squeaking escalator sound Paul recently recorded from Arezzo.
Paul Rudy hanging out with St. Francis of Assisi
Speaking of sound, Paul has used audible phenomenon from all over Rome and Italy in his work and has collected some “doozies” (in his words): gondola’s slapping water in Venice, the Florence Duomo bells, water from Villa d’Este, and fire from i fucanoli festival in the little Southern town of Campagna. All told, Paul says, the composing and the recording represent about a year’s worth of music in 4-5 months and he is still going strong. Paul is quick to point out that this pace is normal for him. The Roman sense of time apparently has had little effect on his working process.
Yet more proof of Paul Rudy’s work ethic is here, in his words:
What has been truly amazing about being at the AAR are all the spontaneous collaborations. So far, I haven’t said “no” to anything and each experience has been rewarding in so many ways!
- Live sound for the Christmas play (one of the highlights of my year!)
- Live sound for yoga in Fritz Haeg’s studio
- Roman Tableaux: a new piece for the Scharoun Ensemble (premiered in January)
- At Rome Around Jovian Moons: a commission for the Galileo Cabaret for violist Erika Eckert (featuring Mass in Santa Maria di Popolo)
- Lovey Track 11 Polly Noonan remix for the Evan Dando Lemonheads tribute with Corey Brennan, aka djkorenelius
- sound for Marco Raparelli’s new animation Muscles
- sound for a Karen Yasinsky animation White
- a solo concert in Florence at Tempo Reale featuring 2012 Stories
- an improvisation collaboration with classical Indian dancer Aparna Keshavia
- a sound/art installation with Felipe Dulzaides for La Chiena in Campagna
- an installation with Stephen Mueller, Ersela Kripa (AGENCY) and Jennifer Scappettone with sound, word and image
- New and Full Moon Celebrations every two weeks for anyone in the community interested
- volunteering in the kitchen
- travel
- conversations, meals, coffee…
…and still plenty of time to absorb all that is Rome and Italy.
For more information on Paul Rudy’s work, click here.