The Music For People & Thingamajigs Festival is an annual event dedicated to promoting experimental music that incorporates made/found instruments and alternate tuning systems. Each year, MFP&T invites artists who design their own musical instruments to join in a festival of workshops, music making, and performances with the goal of reaching a large, diverse audience of all ages.
This year’s festival features music and world premiere performances from 10 exciting artists and groups from the Bay Area and beyond. Noted works include performances by New Yorks’ Electric Junkyard Gamelan, a piece for computer controlled metal percussion by Matthew Goodheart and developed in collaboration with the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies at UC Berkeley, Tim Phillips’ Bubble Organ instrument, a series of sound sculptures for repurposed vintage typewriters called Poemophone by Tracey Cockrell, and new pieces for microtonal sixth-tone scale guitar by East Coast composer Lewis Krauthamer.
Now in its 14th year, Music for People and Thingamajigs is a celebration of new and unusual explorations in music and performance. The three evening concerts and one daytime family event feature music created using made and/or found instruments, alternate tuning systems and hands-on discovery.
Past participants include Carla Kihlstedt, Walter Kitundu, Peter Whitehead, Brenda Hutchinson, William Winant, Laetitia Sonami, and many others.