DOG STAR ORCHESTRA FESTIVAL 21
There were sixteen (16) events held in the Dog Star Orchestra Festival over ten (10) days in the summer of 2025. Of those, I watched, listened to, or otherwise participated in thirteen (13) of them; you would think that gives me a uniquely qualified perspective to speak on the festival as a whole, but it turns out that a large percentage of this audience are diehards for the kind of quiet, post-Cagean music fostered (in large part) by Michael Pisaro at CalArts – several of the audience members were there for every single event.
The Dog Star Orchestra is an ensemble and a once-a-year festival of experimental music, started in 2005 by Michael Pisaro as a way of playing recent experimental music by young composers and classic pieces from the experimental tradition. Described as “messily exceptional” by the Los Angeles Times, Dog Star events happen throughout the Los Angeles area and often feature offbeat performances in out-of-the-way places, alongside more traditional concert settings. It is one of the main presenters fostering and documenting the strong local experimental music scene, as well as presenting work that would otherwise not be heard in the US.
The festival has also featured the US premieres of many works by the international Wandelweiser collective and presented seminal pieces from the American origins of the experimental school (Cage, Wolff, Feldman, Lucier, Oliveros, Tenney and so on). Initially curated by Pisaro alone, the summer festival grew from six concerts to, in 2015, fifteen concerts. Beginning in 2011 the festival began to employ multiple curators drawn from people who had participated in previous years. In most years upwards of 60 musicians participate as composers and performers. The local following for the series has also grown substantially over the twenty years of its existence.
Some of my highlights are collected below, with the notable exception of the IN REAL TIME review which is written by Violet Hill.
Jun 14, 2025 5:00 PM – WALL PIECE – LA Valley College, music school
A small ensemble will treat the west-facing wall of the LA Valley College practice room building like a graphic score and Erik Carlson will begin his solo violin piece, “Dog Star Palindrome.”
Michael Matsuno teaches at LA Valley College, and every time he enters or exits the music building, he passes by this wall, noticing its asymmetry, palette of colors and textures:
which naturally became the score for the faithfully-titled “Wall Piece”:
a performance of which was realized by a small ensemble facing the wall; the audience could choose to situate themselves anywhere. Some faced the ensemble, others chose to face the wall in tandem with the performers, as if reading along.
A composition like “Wall Piece” is predicated on a certain amount of rigidity; the score is derived from lines and shapes on a preexisting plane, and for a composer to adjust their whims would sacrifice accuracy to the original art which, depending on who you ask, is the entire point.
The success of this piece, then, lies in the details; Michael’s orchestrational decisions and the performers’ interpretative decisions compound to elicit a cohesive long-form work (clocking in at exactly an hour from the left edge of the wall to the bricks comprising the box office booth).
As of the time of the performance, the architect of the building is unknown to Michael. And, believe it or not, the design is at least partially functional; the blue sections are windows into practice rooms and faculty offices. At certain points, as Michael was measuring the walls, he’d accidentally look into one of the windows and someone’d be looking back.
Jun 20, 2025 8:00 PM – A YEAR OF DEEP LISTENING – The Battery Books and Music
readings and performances from “A Year of Deep Listening”
A series of short performances of pieces from “A Year of Deep Listening,” a collected anthology of text scores in tribute to Pauline Oliveros. My favorite was “Yeehaw * 9” performed by Mason Moy and Cassia Streb; you can probably guess what the said, nine times.
Jun 21, 2025 7:00 PM – PLACES – private address
A 24-hour installation composed by Todd Moellenberg.
in which audience members could enter Todd Moellenberg’s residence at any point during a 24 hours period to play on his piano, specific keys illuminated by a wall mounted projector based on scales derived from Markov chains. According to Todd, there was a performer seated at the piano for the entirety of the 24 hour period.
Jun 26, 2025 7:00 PM – NEAR FIELD #1 – Automata (basement)
Brandon Auger performs a proximity-based listening event
many motor-driven sound making objects on a table in the basement of Automata; this little roll of felt spun around with its arms raised and captured my heart
Jun 28, 2025 4:00 PM – IN REAL TIME – Automata
Three abstracts from Automata (by Violet Hill)
“On Nev Wendell” – automatic impressions & granular gestures inviting sweet moments of clarity between pause & pondering…the tickle of the ear, rustling of leaves, and quiet hum of the mechanized world – a truly wonderful absence of urgency
“On Ethan Marks” – tunnel vision (enlightened) through the obsessive conjuring of events, one after the other. a brilliant refusal to acquiesce. a dedication like no other. tension is officially in season, and its inevitable tides can be observed through glimpses into the window of dark arts
“On āññā” – mechanical voices from within that challenge perception of free will. red laser lights distract and hypnotize. visuals are far from processed feelings, rather, they evoke guttural reactions. do they serve to prompt an inquiry of matrix or are we asking the wrong questions?
Jun 28, 2025 8:00 PM – AGAIN AND AGAIN – Automata
A work by Jules Evans and the Dog Star Community Choir performs rounds from Larry Polansky’s Rounds Unbound
I co-directed the second half of this concert so I won’t say too much but what a joy it was to sing rounds with a group of volunteer / mostly-amateur singers. A photo of us at rehearsal in my studio because I was too preoccupied making music to take photos at the venue (I hope Larry would be proud of me):
Jun 29, 2025 8:00 PM – THESE ARE MY FRIENDS – Automata
Compositions by Nat Evans, Jen Boyd, Anna Heflin, Ben Rempel, TJ Sclafani
One major change in the festival this year was the quality and reliability of the livestreams provided by Dog Star, through the work of videographer Chris Lascelle and audio engineer Colbert Davis. Every performance in the Automata Theater was captured and live broadcast so that those unable to attend could still watch; I was unable to attend in person, so I would not be able to tell you about Ben Rempel’s percussion trio, a luminous highlight of the day featuring Tim Feeney, Don Nichols and Ben himself. The work vacillated between modes of togetherness; at times chaotic, at times synchronized, but most frequently somewhere in the middle.
This festival is staffed by volunteers who produce the beautiful-if-unmarketable music through sheer grit. Congratulations in order for every performer, composer and staffer but especially head honcho Cassia Streb for pulling it all together.
Stay tuned for the next season.