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UGA Residency: The Innocents - Bent Frequency with Allen Otte and John Lane


With support from a Willson Center Public Impact grant, the University of Georgia presents Bent Frequency and guests Allen Otte and John Lane in "The Innocents Project" residency from February 14-16, 2017.  Together with UGA's schools of art, law, music, ICE, and the Georgia Innocence Project organization, the residency will shine a light on social justice, civil and human rights, and art’s role in advocating for them.

Tuesday, 2/14
Saxophone Masterclass featuring Dr. Jan Baker, professor at Georgia State University and co-director of Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency
5pm-6:30pm, Edge Hall, HHSOM


Wednesday, 2/15
Percussion Masterclass featuring guest artists Professor Allen Otte, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Dr. John Lane, Sam Houston State University (TX)
9am-10:30am
Percussion Suite, 1st floor HHSOM

ICE Conversation
12pm - 12:45pm
Lamar Dodd Building Room S160
Join us for this conversation featuring Atlanta-based contemporary chamber ensemble Bent Frequency and guest artists Professor Allen Otte and Dr. John Lane as they discuss the collaborative and cross-disciplinary aspects of their performance project The Innocents, inspired by the photo exhibit of The Innocence Project by photographer Taryn Simon, which examines the issue of wrongful conviction in the American penal system. Simon traveled across the US photographing and interviewing individuals who had been wrongly convicted and served time for crimes they did not commit. The individuals photographed were exonerated through DNA evidence.  Their performance of The Innocents takes place in the Dodd Atrium (first floor of Lamar Dodd Building) the following evening, 2/16, at 6pm.  Sponsored by a Willson Center Public Impact Grant.

 "Collaboration and Community: Cultivating a Performative Voice"
7:00pm - 8:30pmDancz Center, HHSOM
Join us for this conversation featuring Atlanta-based contemporary chamber ensemble Bent Frequency and guest artists Professor Allen Otte and Dr. John Lane as they discuss how their work as contemporary musicians has broadened into culturally and socially relevant interdisciplinary performance projects that inspire artistic development and purpose beyond the playing of their instruments.


Thursday, 2/16
School of Law Panel Discussion: Social Justice and Music: The Innocence
12:30pm - 1:30pm
Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom, third floor
University of Georgia School of Law
225 Herty Dr
Join us for this distinguished panel discussion, moderated by law professor Russell Gabriel, that features: Interim Director of the Georgia Innocence Project, Clare Gilbert;  Georgia Innocence Project’s first exoneree, Clarence Harrison; Ryan Swingle, Regional Capital Defender; and guest artists Professor Allen Otte and Dr. John Lane. This panel will discuss aspects of the death penalty, the process of exoneration and how social justice can inspire art and music.

Culminating Performance: The Innocents
6pm: Dodd Atrium (located on first floor), Lamar Dodd Building
featuring Atlanta-based contemporary chamber ensemble Bent Frequency and guest artists Professor Allen Otte and Dr. John Lane

The first half of the concert features "The Innocents" work by Dr. John Lane. Through the use of non-traditional instruments, such as found or street percussion (rocks, pots, pans, trash cans, etc...), and the use of electronics, the music and text illustrate some of the strong and complex emotions brought about by Simon's original exhibit.  

The second half features Bent Frequency performing "Coming Together" (1971) and "Attica (1972), by the American composer Frederic Rzewski. The text is taken from letters written by Samuel Melville, an activist and inmate killed in the prison riot at Attica State Prison in 1971. Melville’s words outline the inhumane living conditions at Attica, which lead directly to the 4-day riot that left 39 people dead.