Emphasis Orchestra
This group emerged during my college years in the early 90’s as large ensemble to play improvised music known as Emphasis. Emphasis itself was created by Steve Rego, Gregg Westgate, and Jesse Corn in high school and three simple precepts:
- The music is freely improvised.
- Musicians preferably play instruments they are unfamiliar with.
- You have have to record it or it’s not Emphasis.
Small Emphasis sessions occurred throughout campus, in dorms, laundry rooms, basically anywhere and at any hour. We started forming larger groups and experimenting with conducting methods and various rules-based improvisations. This grew into the Emphasis Orchestra. We recorded an improvised soundtrack to an abstract student film The Ways by Stephen Eberle.
After moving to New York City in 1995, I regrouped the Emphasis Orchestra with fellow graduates in the area. We had frequent 3-hour sessions at Funkadelic Studios to practice our ideas. Occasional public performances included a rendition of Erik Satie’s Le Piège de Méduse, my original variety show Rusty Trailers, and lending our abstract sounds to a public swimming pool, and an avant-garde piece about clocks that involved sitting on hot toast.
Our efforts lost steam around 2000 due to the onset of adult responsibilities, but I like to think the Emphasis Orchestra can return at any moment.