:

Patrick Brennan was an artist-in residence with his ensemble sonic openings under pressure for three days in late October, 2006.

He had workshops for various ages of school children and was a guest on both our local NPR affiliate evening jazz show and on a local morning TV news program. He was always courteous, friendly, and willing to make his music accesible at all times. He is a phenomenal player and composer.

What sets him apart from other fine musicians is that he is very articulate about his process as an artist.

Although his music is often termed "outside," he is experimenting with very many of the same concepts that musicians have dealt with for centuries. He isn't willing to compromise his vision nor to produce music that is easily digestible by the pop music consumer, but he is very willing to work with anyone to let them know that they can understand more and perhaps truly enjoy the intellectual and musical challenge he presents.

I truly appreciated his desire to share his craft and thought process with people of all ages, and his desire to collaborate with us as an institution that presents music and visual art. He's got a lot to communicate, and that's a very good thing.

Sincerely,

Kelly Armor, Education Director,

Erie Art Museum

The ability of these artists to articulate, communicate & demonstrate not only the internal processes & techniques of music making, but its interrelationship with other categories of human activity, makes possible their contributions within a wide range of interdisciplinary learning settings - museums, universities, cultural centers & public schools being among the hosts of these activities.

Residencies at universities, for example, can be supported through interdepartmental cooperation that supplements performance venues & music department resources with activities relevant to dance, anthropology, issues of the creative process, communications studies, African-American studies & so forth.