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Please note that Christian Marclay and Steve Beresford will next perform at Oto on 21 May 2011: Christian Marclay, Okkyung Lee, John Butcher & Steve Beresford. Get your tickets now!

An evening of voice and turntables with Christian Marclay and Phil Minton with special guest Steve Beresford. Phil Minton will perform an interpretation of Marclay's graphic score 'Manga Scroll' - a 20 metre long scroll featuring hundreds of onomatopoeic words taken from manga comic books and collaged into a flowing chain of words that buzzes with an aural energy. Phil Minton's interpretation converts these words into a vocal performance of striking intensity and was performed to rapt audiences at Marclay's 'Festival' retrospective at the Whitney in New York and at the White Cube Gallery in London during the exhibition of 'The Clock'.

Marclay, Minton and Beresford will then perform a second improvised set shifting between solos, duos and the full trio.

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY

Over the past 30 years, Christian Marclay has explored the fusion of fine art and audio cultures, transforming sounds and music into a visible, physical form through performance, collage, sculpture, installation, photography and video. His latest major work, The Clock, is a 24 hour video piece constructed from films where the time is expressed has been declared 'a masterpiece' (Frieze Magazine).

Raised in Switzerland, Marclay has spent most of his adult life in America, but now lives in mostly in London and New York. He began performing with turntables whilst still a student in the late 70s - According to critic Thom Jurek, Marclay was the 'unwitting inventor of turntablism' and has since been active in the field of free improvisation, performing with the world's best improvisors including Evan Parker, John Zorn, Otomo Yoshihide and many many more. Marclay's graphic scores, which take musical motifs from everyday objects, signs and advertising was recently celebrated with a three month festival at the Whitney in New York during July-September 2010.

"Christian Marclay can make music out of almost anything." -WNYC

Christian Marclay photo by Tim Ferguson.



PHIL MINTON

Phil Minton, born in Torquay, UK in 1940. Both his parents were singers. He learnt trumpet from age 15 and played and sang with local jazz groups, moving to London in 63 to play with Mike Westbrook. From the mid 60's he worked in dance bands in the UK, Canary Islands and Sweden. Rejoining Westbrook in 72 he was a regular member of his Brass Band until 84, playing trumpet and singing extensively in Europe, USA and beyond.

Through the last 30 years he's worked mainly as an improvising singer and sung with most of the worlds leading improvising musicians as well as been a guest singer for many composers music. He collaborated with pianist Veryan Weston on compositions such as "Songs from a Prison Diary" and is a member of improvising groups TooT, No Walls, 5 Men Singing, fORC, Adorno, Speeq and Axon. He also has a quartet with Veryan, John Butcher, and Roger Turner, and plays duos with these three musicians. New working duos are with singers and musicians, Isabelle Duthoit, Maggie Nicols, Audrey Chen, Terry Day, Hugh Metcalfe, Daunik Lazro and Sophie Agnel. He was a Nesta awardee in 2005 and in the last 15 years has traveled to many countries with his "Feral Choir" - a workshop and concert for all people who want to sing.

"Phil Minton's voice also occupies a category apart, a place in contemporary Improv that makes your regular 'sui generis' performer look almost commonplace." Brian Morton, THE WIRE





STEVE BERESFORD

Steve Beresford is one of the giants of British improvised music, a restless multi-instrumentalist whose irreverent and anarchic spirit has been disrupting and galvanising improvised music for forty years. A superb pianist, he also plays an assortment of electronic devices and toy instruments. Always balanced precariously on the edge of chaos, he possesses an energy and verve that can animate any musical situation.