Next Wednesday (March 29, 2023), Robin Wall Kimmerer will be giving a lecture at Otterbein University. After, artist Cadine Navarro and I will be joining her for an extended conversation on the “grammar of animacy,” our work, listening practices, and paying attention to the natural world around us. You can learn more below:
Introducing: Sound Is Magic Newsletter
I’ve started a new newsletter, called Sound Is Magic. In it, I explore sound, listening, music, and recordings. I’ll also share news and upcoming events. I hope you can join me!
New Phantom Power Podcast Episode on Thomas Merton Hermitage Tapes
I’m very proud of this one: I’ve made a new podcast for Phantom Power, a podcast on sound and sound studies. It’s an audio essay that explores my work with the Thomas Merton hermitage tapes. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.
Article for City Pulse Magazine: "Brian Harnetty Taps Into the Sounds of History and Nature"
I sat down with Melissa Starker from the Wexner Center for the Arts to talk about recent and upcoming projects, for City Pulse Magazine. Starting tomorrow and into April, I'll be working with high school students and taking them on sound walks around campus, as part of the Wexner Center's Department of Learning and Public Practice. It will be cold tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it!
https://citypulsecolumbus.com/brian-harnetty-taps-into-the-sounds-of-history-and-nature/
Feature on Bandcamp Daily: "Brian Harnetty Make Present Music with Ghosts of the Past"
It is such an honor to have a feature article in Bandcamp Daily. A retrospective of past works, it begins with 2007’s American Winter and moves through to last year’s Words and Silences. I love Bandcamp, and I’m so happy that this article might help listeners connect the dots between albums, over the past 15+ years! You can read the full article here.
Photo courtesy of the Ross Art Museum.
Explore: "Ohio Imprint" Exhibition Photos and Video
You can now view photos and video from the “Ohio Imprint” exhibition, currently running through March 26 at the Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. If you are unable to attend in person, this documentation will help give you a sense of the project. You can learn/read/see/hear more below.
Listen: Art Restart Podcast
I’m so excited to see that a second great podcast in one week has come out, this time from Art Restart (from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts). I don’t have any control when the podcasts come out (they were recorded last year), but it occurrs to me that the two from the past week complement one another: If my interview with the The Sound School Podcast last week is focused on a single project — Forest Listening Rooms — then the Art Restart podcast takes a broader view, and we discuss early inspirations, sonic ethnography, working with communities, and the value and meaning that come from staying/sticking around.
I hope you can listen to them both Read more below, and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Read a Review of Words and Silences from the Merton Seasonal
It’s not easy to reach two (or more) very different audiences. And yet, this always seems to be a very important goal each time I set out to make a new project. That’s why I am especially happy to see this review from the Merton Seasonal, an academic journal from the International Thomas Merton Society and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. I’m so glad that these scholars and Merton readers are interested and curious about Words and Silences, and it also makes me happy to imagine the Venn diagram with readers of MOJO and The Wire in one circle, and readers of the Merton Seasonal in another sharing the same interest in Merton’s words and the music here. You can read this lovely and thoughtful review from Julianne E. Wallace here.
Now Through March 26: "Ohio Imprint" at Ross Art Museum
If you are in central Ohio, you can visit this exhibition at the Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University. It features seven photographs by Dick Arentz and seven corresponding videos and field recordings from me. It explores themes of place, labor, history, and human's ecological imprint. Learn more about the project here:
Listen: “Studs Terkel Meets Brian Eno in the Woods,” on Sound School Podcast
I loved talking with Rob Rosenthal for the Sound School Podcast (one of my favorites). We discussed Forest Listening Rooms and my composition process with archival recordings. Rob states, “I think my favorite quote from Brian Harnetty on this episode of Sound School is when he told me his work as a sound ethnographer is ‘basically, curiosity that’s rooted in sound.’” You can listen to the episode on all podcast services, plus bonus content here:
Photo courtesy Kevin Davison
New Article in Matter News: "Ohio Imprint"
Andy Downing from Matter News wrote a nice profile for an upcoming exhibition called “Ohio Imprint,” where I follow in the footsteps of photographer Dick Arentz. Andy and I sat down to talk about the project, and its inspiration. The exhibit opens with a reception on Sunday, January 22, from 2-4. You can read the article here.
Read: 2022 Year-in-Review
Here is my 2022 Year-in-Review. It began with mix of grief and joy, and was followed by an astonishing amount of wonderful reviews and responses to "Words and Silences" over the past months. I'm also grateful for the many kind words from friends and strangers alike. Thank you!
Please consider signing up for my newsletter! You can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/28c747d38180/2022-year-in-review
The MOJO Editor's Favorite Albums of 2022
Here is another lovely list for Words and Silences to be a part of: the MOJO Editor's Favorite Albums of 2022. You can read the list here.
From Independent Clauses: "An amazing, challenging, intriguing composition"
Be sure to read this lovely review of Words and Silences from the blog Independent Clauses. Many thanks for such nice words!
You can read it here.
Jeremy Woodruff, Katie Porter Maxwell, Brother Paul Quenon, William Lang, Phil Rodriguez, and Brian Harnetty sit in front of Thomas Merton’s hermitage in the fall of 2022. Photo courtesy of Kevin Davison.
Read the Latest Newsletter: Reflections on Last Month's Performances of Words and Silences
"A Bunch of Five" for OutsideLeft Magazine
I got to share five things with magazine OutsideLeft -- not a best-of list, but things that inspire me. I talk about Radiooooo, Niki and Nat Segnit, Hanif Abdurraqib (and Two Dollar Radio), Robert Lax, and my father's workbench. I hope you enjoy it and have a good day!
https://outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=2516
Words and Silences #5 for Modern Composition in The Wire
It is so nice to see Words and Silences be in The Wire Magazine’s top ten Modern Composition best-of list for 2022. And such good, company, too!
Watch: Live Solo Performances 2013-22
Watch a playlist of my solo piano performances over the past decade. This includes two tracks from The Star-Faced One (from the Sun Ra/El Saturn Archives), “Jim” from Shawnee, Ohio, a suite of pieces from Many Hands, and three tracks from Words and Silences.
Words and Silences is MOJO's #2 Underground Album of the Year
I’m so happy for Words and Silences to be MOJO’s #2 Underground Album of the Year! What a great honor!
"Words and Silences" Premiere November 9
We are a little under a week away from premiering "Words and Silences" at the Wexner Center for the Arts -- next Wednesday, November 9, at 8:00pm. I hope you can come hear/see the show! Tickets are on sale below.
I'm so lucky to have all of the original performers from the album joining me, including Katie Porter (bass clarinet), Jeremy Woodruff (flute, alto sax), Phil Rodriguez (trumpet), and William Lang (trombone).
Purchase tickets here.