The sky overhead City Park in Iowa City was clear, a dome of deep blue. Under that sky, more than 100 musicians arranged in concentric circles around conductor Steven Schick, their legs folded in lotus positions. Schick stood up and brought a sea shell to his mouth. The sound was almost imperceptible, only the friction of the air he blew as it entered the shell. Schick filled his lungs, tipped his head back and blew again.
On the ground everyone remained seated. A wind from the west shook the tops of the trees. He blew again into his shell, then walked out of the circle. Gradually, other sounds began to fill the air. One of the musicians stood up and hit a small drum, then another. The clock marked 3:06 in the afternoon. Thus began the performance of John Luther Adams’s Inuksuit on Sunday, Oct. 6, at City Park.
Renowned percussionist and conductor Steven Schick was born in Mason City, Iowa in 1954. In honor of Schick’s 70th birthday, from Sept. 30 until Oct. 6, Hancher Auditorium hosted a residency called “Born in Iowa.” The residency included master classes, lectures and a recital, culminating with the performance of Inuksuit. Musicians from 11 states traveled to Iowa City to perform on the 15th anniversary of the premiere of Adams’ piece, which debuted in 2009 at the Banff Center for the Arts.
Adams is known not only as a musician but as an environmentalist. Inuksuit encourages listeners to expand their awareness of their surroundings, to pay close attention to what’s happening around them moment to moment. During the 70-minute performance, the percussionists didn’t remain static — they moved around and played in different spots. Listeners could sit on the grass or follow the musicians at will, which is a very different experience from what one has at a concert hall.
“If you could imagine taking a one-hour long breath, that’s how it would sound,” said Schick.
The choice to perform the piece on the banks of the Iowa River was not happenstance. Schick noted that he’s performed Inuksuit in places where healing of the ground was needed, recalling the severe 2008 floods that damaged all of the UI’s Arts Campus. “We also performed Inuksuit at the U.S.-Mexico border,” he said. “Half of the musicians were in the U.S., the other half in Mexico.”
The complete renovation of the Arts Campus was finalized only two years ago, when the Stanley Museum opened to the public.
Schick is the kind of man who will walk for eight hours — from 123rd street, near Columbia University, to Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village — to visit the home of one of his heroes, French composer Edgar Varèse. Schick shared details about his long walk in Manhattan when he gave a lecture and a recital at the Recital Hall in Voxman Music Building. He also talked about German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen and his 1959 composition Zyklus, which Schick performed after detailing how the experimental percussion piece was created as Germany attempted to rebuild after World War II.
Schick lived in Freiburg for a year in 1982 studying under Bernhard Wulff. Percussion is at the heart of Schick’s craft and spiritual practice. “It is a communal art,” he said. “It feels like we are one hive. There’s more comfort when we do things together.”
The performance of Inuksuit at City Park was a clear example of this communal element. Dozens of people came to listen to the percussion and the piccolo flutes, to walk along the river and experience a memorable performance.
“Only by closing my eyes did I feel like I was truly listening,” said Wendy Labinger, a poet who knows Schick from his time at the University of Iowa back in the ’70s. “And what I heard was beautiful.”
Mauricio Ruiz is a grad student in Spanish Creative Writing at the University of Iowa. He’s the author of two collections of short stories and his work has appeared in The Rumpus, The Common, Electric Literature, The Masters Review, among others.