GRAMMY-nominated orchestral collective Wild Up presents “The Great Learning, Paragraphs 2 and 7,” by Cornelius Cardew. A ritual of gathering in community through sound, Wild Up members and an ensemble of 30 pre-appointed non-musicians perform two sections of this monumental work in which voices and percussion unfold through listening and response. Creating a vast field of resonance and play, Wild Up musicians will teach the work to a public ensemble, learning through repetitions and echoes, culminating in a performance where music becomes a shared space to embody collective creativity. Composed between 1968 and 1971, Cardew designed The Great Learning for a radically open ensemble that blurred lines between trained musicians and amateurs, grounding the piece in inclusivity, process, and duration.
Presented in conjunction with the special exhibition, “Robert Therrien: This is a Story,” The Great Learning touches on themes both intimate and monumental, plays with scale to change how we perceive the world, and collapses the distance between the personal and the epic. Therrien’s large-scale sculptures can evoke childlike awe; Cardew’s music sparks collective joy in making something bigger than ourselves. Both artists reveal how ordinary materials—wood, metal, voice, breath—can hold memory and become extraordinary.
