ARTicles vol. 1 i.3: The Empty House Cooperative Rocks the House Live!

In the spring of 2001, when it was announced that Robert Woodruff was to become the A.R.T.’s new artistic director, he received many letters of congratulations. Among them was a note from a subscriber, Leslie Brokaw, who included two recordings of her brother’s band, The Empty House Cooperative. “I was amazed when I heard it,” says Woodruff. “You get sent a lot of music in this job, not much as great as this.” That evening Woodruff played the Cambridge-based band’s music to his friend and collaborator Rinde Eckert, who was just beginning work on Highway Ulysses. “I thought their phrasings and sense of musical gesture were simpatico with Rinde’s musical voice. We listened together and agreed that they had to be part of the project.”

Empty House Cooperative began in 1997 as a Sunday morning music brunch hosted by David Michael Curry, who is known within the Boston music community for his involvement with Boxhead Ensemble and Willard Grant Conspiracy, and for his work with Thalia Zedek. “The nature of the group has always been flexible and shifting,” says Curry. E.H.C. avoids a traditional band structure and produces improvisational, free-form music with a revolving cast of players, including Leslie Brokaw’s brother Chris, who also plays with Pullman, The New Year, and Come.

In August 2002, E.H.C. joined Rinde Eckert and the A.R.T. acting company for a week-long workshop. “Rinde is quick to find a strength in the voice of an actor or a musician’s playing that works with his vision,” says Curry. “He’s also willing to consider the ideas of others. The workshop was useful as a sounding board for Rinde’s ideas. We were able to explore elements of text, music and concepts for Rinde to use in the development of the final piece. We were able to present Rinde and Robert with our range of instruments and what we could do with them, as an artist might look at a palette of colors. Chris is known for his guitar and percussion work in a number of different styles and I mainly play viola and have an odd assortment of instruments available; including horns, singing saw, home-made oddities and loop samplers, which digitally manipulate the sound from any of my instruments.”

Boston is not well-known as a home of progressive and innovative musical styles. E.H.C is delighted that Highway Ulysses will introduce the A.R.T.’s audience to their ambient, tonal music and allow them to experience local musicians in a new and exciting way. “Chris and I play and tour in several music groups, and we hope there’ll be a crossover of audience in both directions,” says Curry. In Highway Ulysses the music is a main structural element; perhaps this production will encourage more live music in theater. Theater feels like a natural direction for E.H.C., and we’re thrilled that our first experience is with the A.R.T.”

Heather Aronson is the A.R.T.’s Executive Assistant.