Meridian Music: Composers in Performance presents Abundant Sound Gardens: In Memory of Toyoji Tomita. 

Abundant Sound Gardens celebrates the life of Bay Area composer/trombonist/gardener Toyoji P. Tomita (1951 – 2008). Stuart Dempster, a self-described Sound Gatherer, will be composing and performing in real time various new pieces as well as earlier pieces, with the assistance of “Toyoji Trombones,” Dempster Didjeridus, and the Cornelius Cardew Choir (directed by Tom Bickley). Dempster, besides trombone and didjeridu, will be performing on conches, garden hoses, and “sundries,” and will utilize all three floors of Meridian Gallery including the backyard garden for the performance. Musicians Andy Strain, Jen Baker, and Ron Heglin will also perform. Visual artist Suiren, a.k.a. Renko Ishida Dempster, will be creating visuals to some of the music performed as well as engaging in real time drawing with her “Circles of Peace” which will serve as a score for performers to interact.

Stuart Dempster--Sound Gatherer--trombonist, composer, didjeriduist, et al, and Professor Emeritus at University of Washington, has recorded for numerous labels including Columbia, Nonesuch, and New Albion. The latter includes In the Great Abbey of Clement VI at Avignon - a “cult classic” - and Underground Overlays from the Cistern Chapel consisting of music sources for a 1995 Merce Cunningham Dance Company commission. Grants include: Creative Associate at SUNYAB; Fellow, Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois; Fulbright Scholar (Australia); NEA Composer Grant; US/UK and Guggenheim Fellowships. Dempster, a leading fi gure in development of trombone technique and performance, published his landmark book The Modern Trombone: A Definition of Its Idioms in 1979. A member of Cathedral Band and a founding member of Deep Listening Band, he has toured extensively and produced the first three DLB recordings.

See photos from the concert.