Dominic J. Jaeckle & Nadia de Vries, Verse & Chorus

An exquisite corpse of an “I” played out in a multiplicity of voices, Verse & Chorus is an experimental act of collaborative reworking that quilts and collages cuts from two manuscripts (Jaeckle and de Vries) into an imagined third object. In order of appearance, the piece assembles readings from Nadia de Vries, Cíntia Gil, Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Mark Lanegan, Stanley Schtinter, Becket Flannery, and Vilde Valerie Bjerke Torset, with an accompaniment of borrowed songs and original music from Matthew Shaw, Mark Lanegan, and Duke Garwood.

Jaeckle and de Vries writings are excerpted from two collections published by Dostoyevsky Wannabe; Jaeckle’s 36 Exposures and de Vries’ I Failed to Swoon, 2021. Verse & Chorus was first broadcast on Montez Press Radio (New York), 29.01.21, and was broadcast thereafter as an element of the online programme for the 2021 edition of Rewire Festival (The Hague, Netherlands), 06.05.21.

Readers, in order of appearance : Nadia de Vries, Cíntia Gil, Diamanda La Berge Dramm, Mark Lanegan, Stanley Schtinter, Becket Flannery, Vilde Valerie Bjerke Torset, Matthew Shaw & Duke Garwood.

Artwork by Jason Shulman, ‘Lenticular Marilyn,’ © 2017

Chaque mercredi *Duuu diffuse une émission inédite réalisée par l’une des radios du réseau Radia, groupe international informel de radios libres. Radia se veut un espace de réflexion sur la radio et la création radiophonique d’aujourd’hui. Cette semaine *Duuu diffuse Dead Cat Bounce by Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera for Resonance fm.

A live performance of improvised and reimagined music and text from the project “Dead Cat Bounce” - a collaborative performance work by Gary Zhexi Zhang and Waste Paper Opera, telling tales of time, money and the unmaking of reality in the wake of catastrophe. The original piece unfolds over five vignettes, blurring the lines between capitalism and ritual, finance and nature, belief and manifestation. The original score merges the Baroque music of Niccolò Jommelli and J.S.Bach with mimetic improvisation, choral rounds, synthpop and the textures of public speaking. “Dead Cat Bounce” takes the form of an oratorio, a medium of vocal performance used to deliver a sacred narrative.

Music by James Oldham. Text by Gary Zhexi Zhang and Klara Kofen. Violin - Chihiro Ono; drums - Cameron Graham; additional performer/band leader - James Oldham; banker/reader - Klara Kofen; banker/Namazu - Gary Zhexi Zhang; Mezzo soprano (Jeremiah) - Suzie Purkis; Baritone (Real Estate Agent of Miami) - Themba Mvula; chorus - Jacob Bolton, Keir Cooper, Gabriella Demczuk, Klara Kofen, Livvy Lynch, Themba Mvula, James Oldham, Suzie Purkis, Gary Zhexi Zhang. Thanks to Resonance Extra, Milo Thesiger-Meacham and Travis Yu.

Waste Paper Opera is an experimental music theatre collective currently based in London. Defining “Waste Paper” as any found text with the potential for recontextualisation, we write music, build structures, make costumes, and write stories using Waste Paper.