January 31–February 6, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 7
Instrument of the century: Thereminist Dorit Chrysler will perform as part of a celebration of the electromagnetic
Woo-OOO-ing the crowd
Theremin fans celebrate its 100th anniversary
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
They’re making waves!
A concert celebrating the 100th
anniversary of the eerie electronic
hand-wave-powered instrument known
as the theremin will take over a Bushwick
church next week. “100 Years of Theremin”
will showcase the past, present,
and future of the instrument at Bushwick
Methodist Church on Feb. 8. One performer
hopes the concert will show that
the instrument is more than a quirky sound
effect in mid-century sci-fi movies.
“There are so many people in all corners
of the world trying to see what you
can do with the theremin,” said Dorit
Chrysler, who organized the event with
the New York Theremin Society.
The concert is also an album release
party for “Theremin 100,” a compilation
of work by 50 theremin artists from
18 countries, using the 100-year-old instrument
to play jazz, pop, classical, and
ambient music.
The theremin, created by Russian
inventor Léon Theremin in the 1920s,
consists of a box with two antennas creating
MUSIC
an electromagnetic field that players
can manipulate for pitch and volume
by waving their hands near the device,
without actually touching it. It is a visceral
experience to play, according to
Chrysler.
“The interface is completely mesmerizing
because you don’t touch anything,”
she said. “In a way, you are the instrument.
It’s your hand motions, and the
theremin just provides the electromagnetic
field.”
Those hand motions are hard to learn,
and theremins are expensive, so it never
became a widespread instrument. During
the mid-20th century, some filmmakers
adopted it as an uncanny sound
effect tool, most famously the British
television series “Dr Who.” The theremin
also laid the groundwork for electronic
music to come, such as the more popular
synthesizer, which soon became the
dominant electronic instrument.
The concert will feature a tribute to
electronic music pioneer Clara Rockmore,
who played classical songs on the
theremin, original compositions from the
New York Theremin Society’s orchestra,
and covers of ambient music trailblazer
Brian Eno and German techno group
Kraftwerk, along with a discussion of
the theremin’s role in the development of
the Moog synthesizer, from that instrument’s
co-creator, Herb Deutsch.
The music will be accompanied by
light projections on the walls of the
church, like all shows in the Ambient
Church events series, which hosts immersive
New Agey concerts in houses
of worship across the borough.
Chrysler hopes that the event and the
album will inspire a new generation of
thereminists.
“We’re laying the groundwork of
what might be possible for exploring
new applications of the instrument,”
she said.
instrument’s 100th anniversary in Bushwick on Feb. 8.
Photo by Kayssa Mavrides
“100 Years of Theremin” at Brooklyn
Methodist Church (1139 Bushwick
Ave. at Madison Street in Bushwick,
www.ambient.church). Feb. 8 at 7
pm. $40.
“Theremin 100,” on vinyl, CD, or
digital. nythereminsociety.bandcamp.
com. $25.
WATCH ME
ROCK THIS
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