Tony Conrad (s. 1940) is in charge of Avanto’s opening concert at the Kiasma Theatre. He is one of the founders of what has come to be known as minimalist music. Conrad bases his own music on microtonal, harmonically rich layers of sound created with an electronic violin. He was one of the central figures of the New York minimalists of the early 1960s and was a member of the legendary Theatre of Eternal Music, which counted among its other members artists such as John Cale and LaMonte Young. He was also there at the beginning of the Velvet Underground, the most famous experimental rock band of all time. It was he who came up with the band’s name. Conrad is also known for his work with the German band Faust. Their collaboration yielded the legendary krautrock album Outside the Dream Syndicate (1973). Conrad still performs regularly, and now, at last, Finnish audiences have an opportunity to hear his hypnotic music played live.

Tony Conrad performs at the opening concert of Avanto 2006 at the Kiasma Theatre on Friday, 17 November at 7 pm. His short films Articulation of Boolean Algebra for Film Optical (1975, 10’) and Cycles of 3’s and 7’s (1977, 31’) are screened at the beginning of the concert. Later in the evening he will also make an appearance as a guest musician with Lau Nau at the Avanto club in Kuudes linja.

Avanto also screens Tony Conrad's films.

Tony Conrad