The ONCE Group was a collection of musicians, visual artists, architects, and film-makers who wished to create an environment in which artists could explore and share techniques and ideas in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The group was responsible for hosting the ONCE Festival of New Music in Ann Arbor between 1961 and 1966. It was founded by Ann Arborites Robert Ashley, George Cacioppo, Gordon Mumma, Roger Reynolds and Donald Scavarda.
During the years the festival was active, a number of avant-garde composers’ works were performed. Composers represented include: Robert Ashley, Pauline Oliveros, David Behrman, George Cacioppo, George Crevoshay, Donald Scavarda, Roger Reynolds, Gordon Mumma, Bruce Wise, Robert Sheff (a.k.a. 'Blue' Gene Tyranny), and Philip Krumm. The compositions and the performances pushed the limits of expectation and served as a laboratory for the development of new approaches in both acoustic and electronic music.
"ONCE turned out to be a festival in which we presented in the best way we possibly could with limited resources both our own music and the music of others we thought was really important to be heard. The people who were most interested were . But it certainly was clear––we literally called it ONCE assuming that it would not happen more than once––when there was such remarkable intensity in those events, that there was something there that was more than just a personal interest or need on our parts." --Roger Reynolds
ONCE is a perplexing name for a multitude of events that happened in many places and forms throughout the 1960s. What started as the ONCE Festival of Musical Premieres in February and March 1961 turned into the six-year-running ONCE Festival, with many derivatives including the ONCE Group (a theatrical ensemble), ONCE Friends, ONCE AGAIN, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival in Ann Arbor. Other festivals across America and North America, including New Dimensions in Music in Seattle, New Arts Workshop in Tuscan, Bang Bang Bang Festivals in Richmond, and Isaac Gallery Series in Toronto, modeled themselves after ONCE.
ONCE’s organizers were five composition students of University of Michigan School of Music composition professor Ross Lee Finney (1906–1997) and visiting professor of composition Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970): Robert Ashley, George Cacioppo, Gordon Mumma, Roger Reynolds, and Donald Scavarda. By 1957, all of these composers were residing in Ann Arbor and were becoming acquainted with each other, if they weren’t already.
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Gathering of students of Roberto Gerhard, Ann Arbor, 1960 (Bottom, l-r): Leslie Bassett, Ralph Bassett (son); (2nd row, sitting): Roger Reynolds, Roberto Gerhard; (3rd row, squatting): Robert Ashley, Sherman Van Solkema, David Bates, (sitting) Leopoldina Gerhard, Anita Denniston Bassett; (standing in back): George Cacioppo, Ed Coleman, Tom Schudel.
Read more about ONCE Group: Beginnings, ONCE Composers and Their Music, Robert Ashley, George Cacioppo, Gordon Mumma, Roger Reynolds, Donald Scavarda, ONCE. MORE, Conclusion, External Links
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