Billie Jean Howard

Here are the last few photos from my England/Berlin trip. Thanks...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:12:00 -0400

Here are the last few photos from my England/Berlin trip. Thanks to Chad for sending them along! We went to a delightful cocktail bar in Islington and enjoyed macarons from Ladurée. We walked along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle and stopped at the beach in Craster. We visited many small towns near Durham, where I especially enjoyed the road to Killhope (it’s snowy!).

Piano at Heathrow.

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:20:37 -0400

Piano at Heathrow.

I’ll be playing with both Bobby Conn and Girl Group! Info.

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:01:48 -0400

I’ll be playing with both Bobby Conn and Girl Group!

Info.

Hulu and Criterion Collection are streaming some fine films that...

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:24:00 -0400

Hulu and Criterion Collection are streaming some fine films that were past winners at Cannes. Maybe I shall re-watch one of my favorites (L’Avventura) if I get a chance this weekend.

Quenchers is located at Western/Fullerton in Chicago.

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:37:00 -0400

Quenchers is located at Western/Fullerton in Chicago.

I’m teaching a new summer camp called Popular Music for Piano! this June 17-21st. You can...

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:45:00 -0400

I’m teaching a new summer camp called Popular Music for Piano! this June 17-21st. You can read more about it here.

I spent nearly a week alone in Berlin except for my friend Nino...

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:33:00 -0400

I spent nearly a week alone in Berlin except for my friend Nino (the dog). It was cold and gray, but now that it’s been a few days since I’ve left the city I’m really missing the train rides, quiet happiness and politeness of the people, tasty street food, flea markets, the musical flow of ladies conversing in German and wandering a new city with all of the freedom in the world. I wonder what Berlin is like in the summer?

Besides the performances I mentioned earlier, I also went to Easter service at Berliner Dom, where they performed Bach’s Cantata BWV 4. I also met up with some friends-of-friends who showed me the excellent bar Das Gift and took me to a club called Farbfernseher (Color TV) known for it’s house music, where the ceiling had started to crumble in the coat check due to the dancing above. I didn’t stay very long because I know I live in Chicago, but I’m just not that into “deep house” music. I sadly didn’t get to see any noisy bands while in Berlin.

I highly recommend Mauer Park Flea Market on Sundays and a trip to the gourmet foods floor of KaDeWe. I spent an hour there looking in every cheese and bakery case and having a glass of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. I also fawned over the adorable Steiff stuffed animals while laughing at myself—wouldn’t most grown women be interested in shoes or clothes rather than toys?

I hit many of the major historical sites which were helpful in getting to know the geography of the city. Topography of Terror held much impact, especially due to it’s location. Reichstag’s audio tour was very informative and interesting, though it was a bit cold in the open-air dome at 8 in the morning. Getting up so early allowed me to see the Brandenburg Gate with almost no one in the street!

I had one day to spend with my hosts (they were on holiday, hence the dogsitting) and Axel took me on a fascinating drive through the East side of Berlin through Kreuzberg, past the East Side Gallery, over the Oberbaumbrucke bridge and into the wide streets with Stalinist architecture. I stopped at Alexanderplatz where an Easter market was in full-swing and I was able to eat my first Berliner. As my brother says, it was “bomb.”

The only disappointment I suffered was at the Hamburger Bahnhof contemporary art museum, where I had an adverse reaction to almost every piece except this tiny sculpture. I was in a bad mood that day, with sore feet and quickly felt better after leaving the high art alone and having a sausage from a street vendor and buying some sneakers and a figurine for my mum.

I can see why many artists and musicians choose to live and work in Berlin. Although I was on vacation, I felt a sense of quality and balance between art and life in the city. There are so many things happening and it’s so easy to get around. I hope to get back soon—maybe performing next time.

Here are two shaky videos I made: riding the U Bahn from Grunewald and the Easter Bells at Berliner Dom (recorded this for the sound).

nbntrio: NbN Trio (Nora Barton, Billie Howard, Nomi Epstein) ...

Wed, 01 May 2013 23:29:19 -0400

nbntrio:

NbN Trio (Nora Barton, Billie Howard, Nomi Epstein)
Free Improv set at Protest Series
Heaven Gallery, Chicago
April 27, 2013

Acoustic set at Uncommon Ground - Friday May 3rd, 10pm. Info.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:01:34 -0400

Acoustic set at Uncommon Ground - Friday May 3rd, 10pm. Info.

I’ll be spinning some yé-yé tunes!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:51 -0400

I’ll be spinning some yé-yé tunes!

Alex Ross: Female Composers Edge Forward : The New Yorker

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:14:01 -0400

Alex Ross: Female Composers Edge Forward : The New Yorker

PROTEST SERIES at Heaven Gallery this Saturday, 4/27 at...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:44:07 -0400

PROTEST SERIES at Heaven Gallery this Saturday, 4/27 at 9pm.

NbN TRIO

Nora Barton - cello
Billie Howard - violin
Nomi Epstein - piano

http://nbntrio.tumblr.com/

STEIN/SCHNEIDER/HOFF/NIEKRASZ

Jason Stein - bass clarinet
Matt Schneider - guitar
Devin Hoff - bass (L.A.)
John Niekrasz - drums

9pm, donation suggested

Photo

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:35 -0400

nbntrio: Stills from our new film premiering next week at CIMM...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:38:13 -0400

nbntrio:

Stills from our new film premiering next week at CIMM fest. 6:30pm Heaven Gallery. April 20, 2013.

info

The Paver is playing with some really great bands this Saturday at Township. Please come out! Bear...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:52 -0400

The Paver is playing with some really great bands this Saturday at Township. Please come out!

Bear Claw, Buildings, The Columbines, The Paver @ Township 8pm April 20th 2013.

A few more from London and Chigwell, where I stayed with...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:01:00 -0400

A few more from London and Chigwell, where I stayed with Chad’s aunt and uncle-in-law. See more on flickr!

Performance

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:24:00 -0400

While on my trip to England and Germany, I experienced three “performances” that I’m sure will stick with me and influence me for a long time. “Vanitas” by Salvatore Sciarrino at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater demonstrated how opera can be modern and intimate. The staging and performances (especially that of mezzo soprano Rowan Hellier) were so effective that as the piece ended, I felt as if I was in a complete trance. Not knowing anything about the piece beforehand, I found this abstract to be a helpful description:

“Because of the radical nature of its choices, Vanitas offers a musico-theatrical experience that is at present unique in Sciarrino’s compositional career; an experience that - in order to succeed on stage - presupposes the attention and participation of a listener who really knows how to listen both to music and to his own interiority, that is, a listener who is able, in the author’s own words, to be truly and fully “a listening person”.

Images Video

“Drumming” (1998) with choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas, music by Steve Reich and costumes by Dries Van Noten at the Hebbel am Ufer was a non-stop set of patterns both in sound and movement. The choreography gave the dancers very little time to rest during the almost hour-long piece. I sat in the balcony so I was able to see the spiral and line patterns of the dance as well as the communications between dancers when they got a moment to breathe on the side—there was no “offstage” for them! I came away energized and wanting to dance! The costumes were very simple but made of beautiful fabrics that moved very well. The color palette of white, black and orange with hints of silver went well with the minimalist sounds of the percussion.

Conrad Shawcross - Turner Contemporary from REILLY on Vimeo.

In London, there is an exhibition of light installations at Hayward Gallery up through May 6th that I’m thrilled I was able to see. Light Show features many of my favorite artists but also introduced me to some new pieces and artists that I found really inspiring. I always like to see Dan Flavin, Olafur Eliasson and Jenny Holzer’s works, but I was very excited to see Leo Villareal’s Cylinder II (2012) as well. Anthony McCall’s You and I, Horizontal (2005) was especially fun and interactive with many visitors testing out the light and haze. Where does one find such a quiet fog machine? I need one!!

Two pieces required no shoes so as to keep all of the surfaces clean. It was really fun to pass from space to space to see the changing color effects in Carlo Cruz-Diez’s Chromosaturation and Doug Wheeler’s Light Encasement (1971). I could list every piece in the show because I enjoyed it so much, so I’ll stop there.

I recently spent a few days in northern England. We drove north...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 09:45:00 -0400

I recently spent a few days in northern England. We drove north up the coast to Edinburgh visiting Berwick-upon-Tweed, Dustanburgh Castle, Holy Island, Hadrian’s Wall, Craster and many other little towns along the way. I’ll be posting more photos on flickr.

I was recently in London for a few days catching up with an old...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:11:00 -0400

I was recently in London for a few days catching up with an old friend and visiting the city for the first time. Although it was quite cold and gray, I had a nice time seeing the main sites, having cocktails and Japanese food in Islington, listening to Evensong at Westminster Abbey, seeing the brilliant (pun intended) Light Show at the Hayward Gallery, eating macarons from Laduree, sighing at the gorgeous twenties dresses in the windows of Annie’s Vintage Costume and Textiles and trying to get to know as many neighborhoods as possible. London also has great sandwiches (brie, cranberry and spinach)! You may follow photos from my travels here.

nbntrio: We are excited to be performing at Chicago...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:01:19 -0400

nbntrio:

We are excited to be performing at Chicago International Movies & Music Festival on Saturday, April 20th at 6pm at Heaven Gallery. You may pre-order tickets to the festival here.