Visual artist and composer Charlemagne Palestine is one of founders the NY minimalist movement, along with contemporaries Steve Reich, Terry Riley, La Monte Young et al. Born in Brooklyn, he began singing traditional Jewish cantorial music in his synagogue at the age of six. In the 1950s, he played hand drums alongside poets and musicians such as Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky; in the 50s he took on the role of Carillonneur at St. Thomas Church, next to the Museum of Modern Art, where he developed an innovative approach to bell sonorities that resonated through MOMA's sculpture garden and out onto the street each afternoon.

At NYU, Charlemagne began composing electronic music in the NYU Electronic Music Studio under the direction of Morton Subotnick. There, he experimented with synthesis and filter processes he would come to refer to as "Spectral Continuum". In 1969, Subotnick invited him to relocate to Los Angeles to help establish a groundbreaking school for multi-media arts, music, dance, and theatre, which later became known as the California Institute of the Arts. At CalArts, he encountered influential figures including the happening artist Allan Kaprow, video pioneer Nam Jun Paik, avant-garde composer James Tenney, and Fluxus artists such as Emmett Williams, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles. It was also here that he collaborated with Simone Forti to create the unqiue group of works Illuminations, in 1970. During his tenure at CalArts, he expanded his creative practice to include electronic and acoustical sound works, body performance art, video art, and multi-media installations.

In 1972, he and Forti were invited to Europe for the first time to perform at a festival in Rome, where he met prominent figures such as La Monte Young, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley. His revolutionary solo piano piece "Strumming" earned him a place among the pioneers of Minimal Music. Throughout the 1970s, he established himself as a celebrated and provocative Soho artist, engaging with contemporaries including John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Len Lye, Merce Cunningham, Vito Acconci, Marisol, Dennis Oppenheim, Laurie Anderson, Gilbert & George, Trisha Brown, and Gordon Matta-Clark. The 70s also saw Charlemagne develop a form of video art known as "Body Music", involving sound an dmovement, as he runs, falls, collides with structures and objects whilst soundmaking - this body-centric approach remained a central theme in his work until the end of the decade.

Throughout the 80s, 90s and to the present day, Charlemagne has continued to develop the "CharleWorld", whether through his totemic GodBear/BuddhaBear sculptures, his continuously influential and innovative compositions and releases on labels such as Sub Rosa and Staalplaat, and his collaborations with such modern luminaries as Michael Gira, Pan Sonic, Tony Conrad and, of course, Daniel O'Sullivan and Oren Ambarchi for the currently touring performance of his work "Karenina".

Charlemagne's counterpart for this workshop, Manchester-born composer/multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan, has been active and influential in contemporary music since the late 1990s, with his rapidly expanding body of work (spanning solo projects and collaborations with a wide range of artists and ensembles) gaining international recognition. His diverse musical contributions include co-founding the avant-pop duo Grumbling Fur, working alongside Norwegian post-metal pioneers Ulver, collaborating with U.S. drone innovators Sunn O))), and playing a key role in the revival of the seminal post-everything trio This Heat under the moniker This Is Not This Heat. Additionally, Daniel has produced the last two solo albums for The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, showcasing his expertise in composition, arrangement, and live ensemble direction.

Beyond his work in recorded music, Daniel has composed for film and installation art, contributing five albums to the prestigious KPM library music catalog. His distinctive style, characterized by the layering of diverse musical disciplines, led to collaborations with influential figures (such as Charlemagne), resulting in large-scale surround sound and audiovisual installations.

This unique performance-based workshop will focus on a wide array of concerns in ensemble soundmaking. Each session will explore a different facet of sound, space, and sacredness, gradually leading toward a final ensemble performance of Charlemagne's work "Karenina". Sessions will include:

Sonic Pilgrimage: Deep Listening & Site-Specific Sound

A guided sound walk through the surrounding areas, encouraging students to experience the landscape as a living score.
Exercises in deep listening and vocal/gestural responses to natural resonances.
Recording environmental sounds to incorporate into the final performance.

Animism & Instrumental Presence

Exploring how instruments and objects hold presence and agency in performance. Encouraging students to interact with their instruments as living entities rather than tools. Ritualistic approaches to performance—considering touch, breath, and gesture as sacred actions.

Sacred Drones & Vibrational States

Exploring sustained sound as a vessel for transformation. Working with resonance, overtones, and tuning systems. Collective drone-building exercises leading into elements of Karenina.

Graphic & Intuitive Notation

Introducing alternative scoring methods, including gestures, shapes, colors, and movement. Creating a participatory score that allows for organic growth and individual interpretation within the large ensemble.

Thresholds: The Ritual of Performance

Exploring how rituals frame musical experiences—beginning, transition, and ending. Designing small ritualistic performances that inform the structure of Karenina. Considering the sacred in music—chant, repetition, mantra, and cyclical structures.

Final Performance: A Living Ensemble

The culmination of these sessions could be a large-scale, open-ended performance of Karenina, incorporating the natural environment as an instrument (wind, water, echoes), and our individual sound explorations woven into the piece.



WHERE AND WHEN?

The course takes place at our residential centre in Aulus les Bains. It's two hours south of Toulouse, high in the French Pyrenees, very near the border with Spain. For detailed travel information, see the transport section. The course starts on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. We advise that you arrive the evening before (17/06/2025) - dinner and accommodation that night is included. The course runs for five days, ending on Sunday night. Accommodation on Sunday night is included, then we leave on Monday morning (23/06/2025). If you decide to take the minibus with us, you will be picked- up in Toulouse at 6pm on 17/06/2025, and will be back in Toulouse at 11am on 23/06/2025.

HOW TO BOOK

To book your place on the course, click the button in the green section above. You won't pay anything right now - we'll send you a booking confirmation email with everything you need to know next. Your place is reserved without payment for three days.

You'll find a payment link in the booking confirmation email - follow the link to make a payment (either in full, or the first payment of a 4 month payment plan). In the latter case, a monthly payment plan will be put in place, so your card will be charged 1/4 of the fee today, and 1/4 each month (on the same day) for an additional 3 months. All card payments are handled by Stripe, and are extremely secure. We don't store any card data ourselves - all of this is handled securely off-site by Stripe. If you have a discount or grant code, you will be able to add it when you follow the payment link in your confirmation email.

Once you've made a payment, you'll receive another email containing your receipt, links to resources, contact information and access to our group chat to discuss the workshop with other participants.