“Whether the audience opted to get lost in the music, marvel at the live puppetry or simply follow the charming, heartfelt silent film unfolding onscreen, the stage inspired awe.” —Fast Forward Weekly
Minneapolis, March 4, 2016—Imagined as a graphic novel animated in real time with a live soundtrack, Montreal-based scratch DJ/music producer Kid Koala has created a magical, multidisciplinary adaptation of his book Nufonia Must Fall. Directed by recent Oscar nominee K. K. Barrett (Spike Jonze’s Her, Where the Wild Things Are), this clever theatrical adaptation unfolds via GoPro video with a dozen miniature stages and a cast of puppets in a tender robot-meets-office-girl love story. Kid Koala and Toronto’s dynamic Cecilia Quartet provide live scoring on piano, strings, turntables, and electronics. Nufonia Must Fall will be performed Friday–Saturday, April 1 and 2, 8 pm, in the William and Nadine McGuire Theater. Copresented by the Walker Art Center and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series.
Kid Koala is a world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer and award winning graphic novelist. He has released four solo albums on Ninja Tune the most recent being 12 bit Blues. He has also released two graphic novels: Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet has been involved in collaborations such as Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, and The Slew.
Kid Koala has toured with the likes of Radiohead, the Beastie Boys, Arcade Fire, Money Mark, A Tribe Called Quest, Mike Patton, DJ Shadow, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He has contributed to scores for the films Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Looper and The Great Gatsby. He has composed music for The National Film Board of Canada, Cartoon Network, Sesame Street, and Adult Swim. He has also been commissioned to create music for runway shows for Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten. Kid Koala’s unforgettable live shows range from silly touring turntable carnivals like Short Attention Span Theater (featuring turntable bingo) and Vinyl Vaudeville (including puppets and dancers) to quiet-time events like Music to Draw To and his Space Cadet Headphone Experience.
He lives in Montreal with his wife and two daughters.
Tickets:
Tickets to Kid Koala’s Nufonia Must Fall are $25 ($22) and are available at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600
About Liquid Music
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series creates a space for innovative new projects and iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, now in its 57th season, is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. In collaboration with its group of artistic partners – Jeremy Denk, Martin Fröst, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Christian Zacharias and Thomas Zehetmair – the virtuoso musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs each year, and are regularly heard on public radio’s Performance Today which reaches 1.2 million listeners each week on 289 stations, and SymphonyCast reaching 240,000 listeners each week on 143 stations nationwide. The SPCO has released 67 recordings, commissioned 142 new works, and performed the world premiere of 49 additional compositions. The SPCO has earned the distinction of 17 ASCAP awards for adventurous programming.
www.liquidmusicseries.org
www.thespco.org
Walker Art Center Performing Arts Program History
A catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences, the Walker Art Center examines the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities. Established in 1927 as the Walker Art Gallery, in 1940 it adopted a new name and focused on modern and contemporary art exhibitions as well as screenings, performances and public programs. Today the Walker is one of the top-five most visited modern and contemporary art centers in the U.S. Multidisciplinary in focus, it is equally committed to advancing artistic innovation and interdisciplinary scholarship as it is with increasing access to lifelong learning in the arts. Led by Senior Curator Philip Bither since 1997, the Walker’s Performing Arts program under his tenure has been defined by its commitment to the increasingly blurred lines between artistic disciplines, including contemporary dance, new music-theatre, performance art, experimental theatre, avant-jazz, contemporary classical music, new global sounds and alternative rock and pop. In addition to animating its outstanding McGuire Theater, the Walker has also greatly expanded its placement of dance into gallery settings, in its sculpture garden, and beyond, to further encourage a conversation between forms. It has also continued it long-standing tradition of mounting work together with presenters, venues, community-based collaborators, and unique sites across the Twin Cities. Through its endeavors, the Walker has earned an international reputation as “one of America’s foremost experimental art spaces” (UK’s The Guardian).
Acknowledgements
Co-commissioned by Luminato Festival, Adelaide Festival, the Banff Centre, Internationales Sommerfestival Hamburg, Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival Groningen, and Roundhouse UK.
Support provided by Producers’ Council members Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation.
The Walker Art Center’s performing arts programs are made possible by generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through the Doris Duke Performing Arts Fund, the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Producer’s Council
Performing Arts programs and commissions at the Walker are generously supported by members of the Producers’ Council: Nor Hall and Roger Hale; Kings’ Fountain/Barbara Watson Pillsbury and Henry Pillsbury; Emily Maltz; Dr. William W. and Nadine M. McGuire; Leni and David Moore, Jr./The David and Leni Moore Family Foundation; Mike and Elizabeth Sweeney; and Frances and Frank Wilkinson.
Special thanks to members of the Liquid Music Advisory Council for their generous advocacy and support:
Anne E. Carayon
Charlie Christenson
Debra Cohen
Rick Dow
Linda Hoeschler
Michelle Klein
Jennifer Leopold
Jon Oulman
Peter Remes
Joe Spencer
Gordon Wright
LIQUID MUSIC 2015.16 SEASON SPONSORS
The Alice M. Ditson Fund
The American Composers Forum
The Augustine Foundation
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Carleton College
City of Saint Paul Cultural STAR Program
First & First
Innova Recordings
Intercontinental Saint Paul Riverfront
The Joyce Foundation
McNally Smith College of Music
Radio K
Whole Foods
Lipton Tea
Stella Artois
LIQUID MUSIC 2015.16 SEASON PARTNERS
Amsterdam Bar & Hall
The Film Society of Minneapolis/Saint Paul
The Givens Foundation for African American Literature
Jayme Halbritter Photography
MPR Live Events
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