Bowerbird is pleased to present the Arcana New Music Ensemble performing Postal Pieces 2.0, the second iteration of “Postal Pieces,” a concert featuring living composers in Philadelphia and beyond composing postcard-sized works inspired by James Tenney’s unorthodox set of compositions.

Tenney’s “Postal Pieces,” composed between 1954 and 1971, are a series of ten concise works each printed on a postcard. These pieces capture Tenney’s exploration of sound and form, focusing on minimalist structures, intonation, and what he called “Swell” forms—gradual crescendos and decrescendos that create a unique auditory experience. Conceived originally as musical “letters” to friends and collaborators, such as Pauline Oliveros and La Monte Young, these works reflect Tenney’s deep connections within the avant-garde music scene and his penchant for inviting listeners into meditative states of listening.

Sets of the these newly commissioned postcard works will be available for purchase at the concert, with all proceeds benefiting the Arcana New Music Ensemble. Previous postcard sets will also be available and are available to purchase online.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

James Tenney (1934–2006) was an American composer, theorist, and performer renowned for his innovative contributions to experimental and electronic music. A student of notable figures such as Carl Ruggles, Edgard Varèse, and John Cage, Tenney was a central figure in the development of post-war avant-garde music. His work often explored concepts of indeterminacy, microtonality, just intonation, and the physics of sound, integrating mathematical and acoustical theories into his compositions.
Tenney’s diverse output includes works for computer-generated sound, instrumental ensembles, and unconventional notations that challenge traditional musical forms. He was also a significant educator, teaching at the California Institute of the Arts and York University, influencing a generation of composers with his boundary-pushing ideas. His collaborations and associations with artists such as Steve Reich, La Monte Young, and Philip Glass positioned him as a vital connector in the experimental music scene. Tenney’s legacy is marked by his relentless curiosity and his ability to blend rigorous theoretical frameworks with an intuitive approach to sound, profoundly shaping the landscape of contemporary music.

Founded in 2015, the Arcana New Music Ensemble is a group of Philadelphia-based musicians dedicated to presenting interesting, beautiful, and unconventional music in interesting, beautiful, and unconventional places.
The Arcana New Music Ensemble is a Philadelphia-based chamber ensemble dedicated to contemporary classical music. Its mission is to perform works by living composers and to reexamine music from the past, often focusing on composers whose work has been overlooked. A hallmark of Arcana’s programming is its frequent use of portrait concerts, which allow the ensemble to explore a composer’s work in depth. These programs balance music by widely recognized composers with works by those who are less well known or historically underrepresented.

Founded in 2015 by musicologist Thomas Patterson, harpist Elizabeth Huston, and curator Dustin Hurt, Arcana was created to provide a platform for Philadelphia’s many skilled performers interested in exploring both new works and important compositions from the past hundred years. Since 2020, the ensemble has been co-directed by Andy Thierauf and Dustin Hurt.
In 2016, Arcana partnered with Pig Iron Theatre Company to present Samuel Beckett, Words and Music by Morton Feldman and began a multi-year project devoted to the music of Moondog (Louis Hardin). The following year included a portrait concert of Galina Ustvolskaya, collaborations with Variant 6 and Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, and performances of works by Julius Eastman, including Stay On It, Femenine, and Thruway.

In 2018, Arcana presented rare works by Pauline Oliveros and portrait concerts of Tom Johnson, James Tenney, and Ben Patterson, along with a second Moondog program. In 2019, the ensemble presented concerts focused on Claude Vivier and Johanna Beyer and participated in a program of George Crumb’s chamber works. From 2020 onward, the ensemble’s programming has included a retrospective of David First, collaborations with the Wildflowers Composer Festival, and concerts highlighting Iranian and Iranian-American composers. Recent seasons have featured portrait concerts of Sarah Hennies, Raven Chacon, and George Walker, the launch of the annual Postal Pieces project, and performances of Pauline Oliveros’s The Well and the Gentle and Lucia Dlugoszewski’s Black Lake.