Episode 45: Charles Corey (Harry Partch Institute Tour)

I got to meet Charles Corey, composer and Director of the Harry Partch Institute, when I visited my friend and percussion colleague Bonnie Whiting at the University of Washington in Seattle back in October of 2016. He generously gave me a tour and allowed me to play some of the iconic instruments during my visit. It was a real treat and something that I had planned to document here on the podcast. In fact, I got so excited that I only pushed the record button once instead of twice, so I lost the audio of our tour. 

Charles was kind enough to send me a new recording of the instruments and re-create our tour via Skype. It was also an opportunity to get his unique perspective on Partch and how Partch's work has influenced his own work.

Here's a link to hear/experience some of Partch's instruments: http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.html

Here are some photos from my visit.

Here's a recording of Partch playing my favorite piece of his: The Letter (1943, rev. 1972).