NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C"
A massed ensemble of North Carolina musicians performs Terry Riley's 1964 minimalist landmark In C — a one-off communal trance.
Terry Riley wrote In C in 1964, and it stands among the founding works of American minimalism, one of the first pieces to build a large-scale structure out of small repeating cells rather than fixed melody or harmony.
The score gives 53 short melodic figures, played in order, with each musician deciding independently how many times to repeat one before moving to the next. A steady pulse on the note C anchors the ensemble throughout, and the piece can be performed by any number of players on any combination of instruments, so no two readings sound alike.
The music thickens and thins as players drift apart and re-converge, moving through passages of dense overlap and near-silence, with no conductor dictating the shape. NC in C gathers local and touring North Carolina musicians for a one-off reading of the piece, led by Frank Meadows of Fust and Dear Life Records and Elise Jaffe of Truth Club.
NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" at a glance
Where is NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" from?
NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" is from North Carolina.
What kind of music does NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" play?
NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" is tagged minimalism and new music.
What festivals has NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" played before?
NC in C presents Terry Riley's "In C" has played Hopscotch 2026.
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