“Out of Our Hands” LP with Alvin Lucier

Dear Friends,

The time has finally come to announce the release of Out of Our Hands on LP/digital by Alvin Lucier and myself. Important Records pressed special red vinyl which you can pre-order now before the official release on Friday, March 18. This project began back in 2018 when I asked Alvin if I could commission a piece by him for the ensemble Ordinary Affects, a group I play viola in, to go alongside my new piece “32 Middle Tones.” He agreed and wrote “Corner Church and High” for string trio and 2 vibraphones (the title is in reference to the location of the house where he recorded his famous work “I am sitting in a room”). The debut recordings of both compositions were made in 2019 at the World Music Hall at Wesleyan University, my alma mater and where Alvin taught for many decades, by Luke Damrosch (who also played percussion on the two pieces). The photograph used for the cover was taken by Shelli Weiler in August of 2019 in his backyard in Middletown and on the back cover you can see the Alvin’s cherished aspen tree — a tree which somehow survived with the help of Alvin whispering his blessings to it each day. And, of course, it was performed by Morgan Evans-Weiler (violin), Jordan Dykstra (viola), Laura Cetilia (cello), J. P. A. Falzone (percussion), and Luke Damrosch (percussion).

Alvin lived until he was 90 (!) but passed away last December and is already missed by so many. I could say a lot about my time with Alvin — eating lobster, stories about Bob and Morton, recording airplanes, listening to bats, driving all over the place — but, for now, I will pass on this statement I wrote late last year.

“With Alvin’s recent passing I was overwhelmed with messages and calls from friends, collaborators, and his former students. Everyone had a heavy heart, no doubt, but were grateful for the memories and their gift to be around Alvin during his lifetime of prolific dedication to the arts, his fascination with poetic storytelling through scientifically-inspired minimalism, and his calm and warmhearted spirit. In his last few years on earth, Alvin was busier than ever — brainstorming new ideas, creating new pieces, and planning big things. While he was here, he was alive, and may his music — and spirit — live on forever, spreading from his corner of Church and High (where he recorded his seminal piece I am sitting in a room) to every corner, concert hall, and loudspeaker in the world.”

For now,

Jordan