David Tudor and

Composers Inside
Electronics Inc.
Rainforest V
(variation 1)

1
About MoMA’s inaugural presentation in the Marie-Josée and Henry
Kravis Studio highlights a landmark work in the collection:
the historic sound installation Rainforest V (variation 1) (1973–
2015), conceived by pianist and composer David Tudor and
realized by Composers Inside Electronics Inc. (John Driscoll,
Phil Edelstein, and Matt Rogalsky).

The Kravis Studio is a new space for live events dedicated

to performance, music, sound, spoken word, and expanded
approaches to the moving image. With a capacity to
accommodate multiple configurations, from an open gallery
to a black box theater, the Kravis Studio will be activated
throughout the year by a range of performances, programs,
and installations through commissions, festivals, residencies,
rehearsals, and workshops.

Rainforest V (variation 1) is a sound environment comprised

of 20 constructed sculptures and everyday objects, such
as a metal barrel, a vintage computer hard disc, and plastic
tubing. The objects are fitted with sound transducers and
suspended in a dynamic spatial composition to increase their
resonance. Each element produces a unique sound according
to its inherent physical properties and resonant frequencies,
ranging from chirping and croaking to clicking and ringing.
The cumulative effect is a polyphonic chorus of diverse voices
that evoke the natural world. According to Tudor, the concept
for the piece grew out of a “dream-vision of an orchestra
of loudspeakers, each speaker being as unique as any musical
instrument.” Visitors are invited to walk among the objects,
experiencing the installation both visually and sonically from
different positions in the gallery.

This presentation in the Kravis Studio will be the first

installation of Rainforest V (variation 1) at MoMA since its
acquisition in 2015.

←
David Tudor. Rainforest IV
(1973). Performed
at L’espace Pierre Cardin,
Paris, France, 1976

→
Workshop for David Tudor’s
Forest Speech (1978–79),
September 16, 2019.
Pictured: C. Spencer Yeh
and Stefan Tcherepnin
Rainforest The genesis of Rainforest V comes from the musical score Forest Speech In addition to the installation, CIE will create a new realization
Tudor created for choreographer Merce Cunningham’s 1968 of David Tudor’s rarely performed Forest Speech (1978–79).
dance RainForest. The title for RainForest came from Forest Speech is a Tudor musical composition related to the
Cunningham’s childhood memories of the Pacific Northwest, Rainforest family of works. It similarly uses found objects
and the forest on the Olympic Peninsula. Tudor took this and constructed sculptures as instrumental loudspeakers and
as a prompt, creating animal and birdlike sounds through has only been performed three times previously: March 20,
his custom instruments, which activated the resonant 1977, at Barnard College, New York, during a Merce Cunningham
frequencies of everyday objects. Tudor called these objects Dance Company residency; and September 23, 1978, and
“instrumental loudspeakers,” because their physical March 31, 2018, at The Kitchen, New York.
properties shaped and amplified the sound. Cunningham’s
RainForest was a collaboration with his peers: the set This version of Forest Speech is unique in that it uses objects
featured Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds, mylar pillows filled from Rainforest V (variation 1) as instruments. While works in
with helium that floated freely around the stage, and the the Rainforest series often use sounds that may be reminiscent
costumes were designed by Jasper Johns. of animals, insects, and birds, Forest Speech calls for vocal-
like sounds.
Composer Gordon Mumma, a friend and collaborator of
Tudor’s, described how crucial collaboration was to the spirit The performance was developed in a collaborative workshop
of Tudor’s work, referring to his ethos as “a garden of shared led by John Driscoll and Phil Edelstein of CIE here in
ideas with minimal fences.” Tudor also worked with several MoMA’s Kravis Studio. Over five days on-site at the Museum
members of the artist and engineer collective Experiments in September 2019, the participants created custom
in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), including Robert Rauschenberg sound material for this new series of live performances.
and Robert Whitman. E.A.T. was founded in 1966 by Billy Klüver This workshop, echoing CIE’s collective beginning in 1973,
and Fred Waldhauer to encourage collaborations between fosters a moment for cross-generational exchange and
artists and engineers at the forefront of new technology. collaborative artistic approaches. The workshop group includes
15 artists and composers of different backgrounds and
In 1973, Tudor’s Rainforest expanded from a musical generations: Ginny Benson, Lea Bertucci, John Driscoll, Phil
composition to a performative and spatial installation at Edelstein, Cecilia Lopez, Daniel Neumann, Ed Potokar,
the New Music in New Hampshire festival in Chocorua, Marina Rosenfeld, Margaret Anne Schedel, Sergei Tcherepnin,
New Hampshire. That year, Tudor presented his Rainforest Stefan Tcherepnin, Spencer Topel, Jeremy Toussaint-
score to a group of young artists and composers. Working Baptiste, Philip White, and C. Spencer Yeh. The use of
in a large barn, they experimented with larger objects, which Rainforest V objects as instruments for Forest Speech speaks
needed to be suspended in order to resonate freely. The to the possibilities for art and collections to constantly
result was Rainforest IV, a collaborative sonic environment. change and evolve, to create new sets of social relationships,
The first performance lasted six hours and the audience was and to inspire new ideas and approaches.
encouraged to walk among the objects, taking full advantage
of the spatial dynamism of the work. Over the subsequent
decades, Rainforest IV was shown in a variety of different
spaces, from art galleries to black box theaters.

The Chocorua workshop participants included John Driscoll,

Phil Edelstein, and Bill Viola, among others. The group would
continue performing together, with small changes to the
lineup, eventually adopting the name Composers Inside
Electronics (CIE)—a name that they felt emphasized their
investment in the potential of software, circuitry, and emerging
technologies to generate innovative forms of music. CIE
continued performing this piece with Tudor through the 1990s,
and even after his death in 1996.

In the early 2000s, John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, and Matt

Rogalsky of CIE created an installation version: Rainforest V.
Described by CIE as an “evolution,” rather than a →
“reconstruction” of a historical work, this version, which is Merce Cunningham
in MoMA’s collection, encapsulates different generations and Meg Harper in
RainForest (1968).
of the piece, transforming a work that was once activated Performed at the
by performers into an installation that “performs” itself Brooklyn Academy
as generated by computer software. of Music, 1969
↑
Installation view of David
Tudor and Composers Inside
Electronics Inc.: Rainforest V
(variation 1), October 21,
2019–January 5, 2020,
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York
Forest Speech October performances Hamilton, Michael Johnsen, Ron Kuivila, Cecilia Lopez,
performance schedule Performers: Phil Edelstein, Marina Rosenfeld, Stefan Paula Matthusen, You Nakai, Ed Potokar, Matt Rogalsky,
Tcherepnin, Spencer Topel, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste Margaret Anne Schedel, and others. Recent projects include
performances at The Kitchen (2018), Ballet de Lorraine,
Thursday, October 24, at 8:00 p.m. and Lyon Opera Ballet, and a growing repertoire of Tudor’s
Saturday, October 26, at 8:00 p.m. music for Merce Cunningham’s choreography with Stephen
Sunday, October 27, at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Petronio Company. Other projects include John Driscoll
and Phil Edelstein’s sound installation Cluster Fields (2018)
and adaptations of Tudor’s Pepsi Pavilion works.
November performances
Performers: Lea Bertucci, John Driscoll, Ed Potokar, Ginny Benson is an intermedia artist who explores techniques
Margaret Anne Schedel, Phillip White of audiovisual collage. She utilizes synthesis, sampling, and
thrift electronics to create immersive compositions and live
Thursday, November 14, at 8:00 p.m. performances. She has toured extensively under the moniker
Saturday, November 16, at 8:00 p.m. VX Bliss, and has presented work at New York institutions
Sunday, November 17, at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. including Lincoln Center, Pioneer Works, Electronic Arts
Intermix, and Roulette Intermedium. She lives and works in
Queens, NY.
December performances
Performers: Ginny Benson, Cecilia Lopez, Daniel Neumann, Lea Bertucci is a composer, performer, and sound designer
Sergei Tcherepnin, C. Spencer Yeh whose work describes relationships between acoustic
phenomena and biological resonance. In addition to her
Thursday, December 12, at 8:00 p.m. long-standing practice with woodwind instruments, she
Saturday, December 14, at 8:00 p.m. incorporates multichannel speaker arrays, electroacoustic
Sunday, December 15, at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. feedback, and tape collage. Her recent projects have moved
toward site-responsive sonic investigations of architecture.
She has performed extensively across the US and Europe
Bios David Tudor (American, 1926–1996) was an early pioneer including at Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY), The Kitchen
of electronic music and sound installation. He worked (New York, NY), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), and
closely with composer John Cage, whose chance-based Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), and at
compositional style was a great influence on Tudor’s the Sound of Stockholm festival in Sweden and the Unsound
work. Tudor was the first to perform several Cage piano Music Festival in Kraków, Poland, among many others.
works, including the landmark 4′33″. During the 1950s
and early 1960s, Tudor taught at Black Mountain College in John Driscoll is a composer, sound artist, and founding
North Carolina, and composed for the Merce Cunningham member of Composers Inside Electronics (CIE). His work
Dance Company, where he would eventually become the has focused on robotic rotating loudspeaker instruments,
music director. Tudor, who participated in the renowned compositions and sound installations for unique architectural
1966 Experiments in Art and Technology event 9 Evenings of spaces, and music for dance. His current work has been
Theatre and Engineering, was among the first composers exhibited at the Fridman Gallery, Museum of Modern Art in
to experiment with live electronic modification of sound. The Warsaw, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Lyon Biennale,
majority of his compositions utilized custom-built modular and Subtropics Festival (Miami), among others. He recently
electronic instruments, positioning him at the forefront of collaborated with Phil Edelstein on a new sound installation,
sonic developments in music technology. Developed alongside Cluster Fields (2018), using focused speakers.
choreographers, theater-makers, and other visual and
performing artists—such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Phil Edelstein is a New York–based sound artist and
Pauline Oliveros—Tudor’s practice was highly collaborative. founding member of Composers Inside Electronics, whose
ongoing work on the Rainforest V editions allows the
Composers Inside Electronics (CIE) (active 1973–present) project to continue into a next generation. Other recent
is a group of composers, performers, and designers dedicated projects include CIE performances at The Kitchen and
to the creation of interactive sound installations, compositions, a repertoire of mostly Tudor works for Merce Cunningham
and live collaborative performances. CIE grew out of a 1973 choreography with dance companies Stephen Petronio
workshop with David Tudor and founding members Paul Company (as part of Petronio’s Bloodlines project) and Lyon
DeMarinis, John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, Linda Fisher, Ralph Opera Ballet. Other initiatives include a collaboration with
Jones, Martin Kalve, and Bill Viola. The group is known for its John Driscoll on a new installation work, Cluster Fields (2018).
performances and installations, including Tudor’s Rainforest IV
project and numerous collaborative realizations of
members’ works. Additional current members include Tom
Cecilia Lopez is a composer, musician, and multimedia artist Margaret Anne Schedel creates work at the nexus of
from Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in New York. Her work computation and the arts, through an interdisciplinary career
explores perception and transmission processes focusing blending classical training in cello and composition, sound/
on the relationship between sound technologies and listening audio data research, and innovative computational arts
practices. She works across the mediums of performance, education. She has a diverse creative output that spans from
sound, installation, and the creation of sound devices and interactive multimedia operas to virtual reality experiences,
systems. Her work has been performed in numerous venues sound art, and video game scores to compositions for
in the US, Argentina, and Europe. She was a Civitella Ranieri a wide variety of classical instruments with interactive audio
Foundation fellow in 2015 and has participated in various and video processing. She is an associate professor in the
international residency programs. Department of Music at Stony Brook University.

Daniel Neumann is a sound artist, organizer, and audio Sergei Tcherepnin is an artist operating at the intersections
engineer. Working with hybrid installation-performance of sound, photography, and theater. His performances and
formats, he explores how sound interacts with space, installations have been exhibited at the Museum der Moderne
and how space and spatial perception can be shaped by Salzburg; Overduin & Co., Los Angeles; Whitney Biennial,
sound. His work has been presented internationally Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Roulette, New
and is represented by Fridman Gallery, New York. He is York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Pavilion of
the organizer and curator of an event series, CT::SwaM Georgia at the 55th Venice Biennale; Murray Guy, New York;
(Contemporary Temporary Sound Works and Music), that The Kitchen, New York; Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris; Karma
engages in spatial sound works and focused listening. International, Zurich; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
New York; and the 30th São Paulo Biennial. He was a Villa
Ed Potokar is an artist, musician, and designer who makes Romana Fellow in 2014.
sound sculptures, audio architecture, and handcrafted
musical instruments. His work and performances have been Stefan Tcherepnin is a Brooklyn-based mixed-media artist,
presented in New York City, Brooklyn, Atlanta, GA, and composer, and musician. He has had recent solo exhibitions
Hartford, CT, as well as at the Fondazione Prada as part of the at Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich; Freedman Fitzpatrick,
Venice Biennale, and at Georgia Tech’s Margaret Guthman Los Angeles; Real Fine Arts, New York; Stedelijk Museum,
New Musical Instrument Competition. He has been featured Amsterdam; and Kunsthalle Zürich. His collaborators include
in print and online publications including the Wall Street his brother Sergei, Ei Arakawa, Tobias Madison, Dan Poston,
Journal, New York magazine, Modern Painter, Elle Décor, Emanuel Rosetti, Taketo Shimada, and Paul Sigerhall. He
DesignBoom, Guitar Aficionado, Fast Company, and has released records on Blank Forms Editions, Dryers, and
Co.Create, as well as on NY1 News, VH1, WNYC’s Soundcheck, Stockholm’s PETRoleum Recordings. He was a recipient of
the BBC, and NBC’s Today Show. the 2008 NYFA fellowship in music composition.

Matt Rogalsky focuses on live electronic music composition Spencer Topel combines sound, installation art, and design
and performance, sound installation, and the study of in ways that connect people with signals. He has collaborated
late 20th-century compositions by David Tudor and other with architect Hana Kassem, violinist Pauline Kim Harris,
composers. He has been a performer in Composers Inside cellist Seth Parker Woods, and the FIGURA Ensemble, among
Electronics presentations of Rainforest and other Tudor others. Upcoming exhibitions include an indoor solar-kinetic
works since 1998. He is based in Kingston, Ontario, where he installation for the Proctor Academy in Andover, NH, as well
runs the Sonic Arts Studio at Queen’s University. Recent as works appearing at Art Basel Miami Beach, the Caramoor
projects include the outdoor sound installations Octet (2016) Festival in Katonah, NY, and the Huddersfield Contemporary
and Into the Middle of Things (2017, with LJ Cameron). Music Festival in the UK.

Marina Rosenfeld is a New York–based composer and artist Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste is a New York–based
working across disciplines. She has had solo presentations artist. He received a Bessie Award for Outstanding Music
at the Park Avenue Armory, The Kitchen, Portikus Frankfurt, Composition/Sound Design in 2018, and has presented
and the Artist’s Institute, among others. Rosenfeld has visual and performance work at venues including MoMA PS1,
created works for numerous festivals, including the Holland Performance Space New York, The Kitchen, and the
Festival, Borealis Festival, Time:Spans, Donaueschingen High Line. Toussaint-Baptiste was a 2017 artist-in-residence
Festival, and the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, at Issue Project Room, has contributed writing to Artforum,
and participated in the Whitney Museum of America Art, and frequently collaborates with artists across media,
Montreal, and Performa biennials, as well as Every Time A Ear including Jonathan Gonzalez, King Vision Ultra, Tiona Nekkia
di Soun for documenta 14, and Dark Mofo in Tasmania. She McClodden, Claudia Rankine, and Will Rawls.
teaches at Bard College and Brooklyn College.
Philip White is a composer, performer, and improviser who
works with electronics at the intersection of noise, jazz, and
contemporary concert music. His music has been released on
Anticausal Systems, Carrier Records, New Focus Recordings,
Infrequent Seams, Contour Editions, and Tape Drift Records.
His work has been described as “utterly gripping” (Time
Out Chicago), “bona fide evocative music” (Brooklyn Rail),
and a “vibrant textural tapestry” (Wall Street Journal).

C. Spencer Yeh is an interdisciplinary artist, improviser, and

composer, and is also known for his music project Burning
Star Core. In 2019, Yeh was a recipient of the Foundation for
Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award. His video
works are distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix. Yeh is also
a programmer and trailer editor for Spectacle Theater in
Brooklyn, NY. His latest record, The RCA Mark II, was released
by Primary Information.

For related education programs, see moma.org/tudor.

Installation detail of David

Tudor and Composers Inside
Electronics Inc.: Rainforest V
(variation 1), October 21,
2019–January 5, 2020,
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street

↑
Children interacting
with David Tudor’s
Rainforest IV (1973).
Performed at Institute
of Contemporary Art,
Philadelphia, 1979

Organized by Ana Janevski, Curator, Images: David Tudor. Rainforest IV Art Funds. © 2019 David Tudor and
and Martha Joseph, Assistant (1973). Performed at L’espace Pierre Composers Inside Electronics Inc.
Curator, Department of Media Cardin, Paris, France, 1976. Photo Installation view, October 21, 2019–
and Performance; performances © 1976 Ralph Jones; David Tudor. January 5, 2020, The Museum of
produced by Kate Scherer, Rainforest IV (1973). Performed at Modern Art, New York. Image © 2019
Manager, with Ginny Benson, L’espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France, The Museum of Modern Art. Photo:
Assistant Performance Coordinator, 1976. Photo © 1976 Sharon Till; Heidi Bohnenkamp; Installation detail
Performance and Live Programs. Workshop for David Tudor’s Forest of Rainforest V (variation 1). 1973/2015.
Speech (1978–79), September 16, Twenty objects, sound. Dimensions
2019. Pictured: C. Spencer Yeh and variable. Conceived by David Tudor,
Stefan Tcherepnin. The Museum of realized by Composers Inside
The exhibition is presented as part of Modern Art, New York. Image © 2019 Electronics Inc. (John Driscoll, Phil
The Hyundai Card Performance Series. The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Edelstein, and Matt Rogalsky).
Heidi Bohnenkamp; Merce Cunningham The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Generous support is provided by and Meg Harper in RainForest (1968). Committee on Media and Performance
The Sarah Arison Endowment Fund Performed at the Brooklyn Academy Art Funds. © 2019 David Tudor and
for Performance. of Music, 1969. Photo: James Klosty. Composers Inside Electronics Inc.
Courtesy of the Merce Cunningham Installation view, October 21, 2019–
Trust; Rainforest V (variation 1). January 5, 2020, The Museum of
1973/2015. Twenty objects, sound. Modern Art, New York. Image © 2019
Dimensions variable. Conceived by The Museum of Modern Art. Photo:
David Tudor, realized by Composers Heidi Bohnenkamp; Children interacting
Inside Electronics Inc. (John Driscoll, with David Tudor’s Rainforest IV
Phil Edelstein, and Matt Rogalsky). (1973). Performed at Institute of
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 1979.
Committee on Media and Performance Photo © Kira Perov (1979)