6/26/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Arthur Jarvinen, who earned a bachelor's degree in music from Ohio University in 1978, has been awarded the School of Music Society of Alumni and Friends Achievement in Music Award for 1997.
Jarvinen, a composer, instrumentalist and "physical poet" for nearly 20 years, has been a member of the California EAR Unit since 1982. The group is a new music ensemble that has performed all over the world in major festivals and has been heard in broadcasts by American and National Public Radio and featured in documentaries for the BBC and Japanese television. In 1978 he also co-founded the Antenna Repairmen, a trio known for virtuosic performances and original experiments with percussion, poetry and theater.
Jarvinen has an international reputation as a new music percussionist, but also performs on electric bass, chromatic harmonica and slide guitar. He combines his background as a musician and composer in a form of art he calls "physical poetry" -- non-narrative audio/visual compositions for stage that incorporate sound, text, movement, lighting and props.
The majority of Jarvinen's works are composed for nontraditional instrumental chamber groups. He also has composed for large ensembles, orchestras and rock bands. He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Koussevitsky Music Foundation and the Fromm Foundation at Harvard, among others. He also has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.
Jarvinen's recent releases include "Experimental Etudes," featuring 20 pieces playable on all instruments, and his first solo CD, "Edible Black Ink."