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Celebrating Charles Ives Desmond Clarke On 26 November, 2008, the music department presented a day of events focusing on the American composer Charles Ives. Subtitled 'Papers, provocations and performances', the event was masterminded by Prof. William Brooks, an internationally recognised authority on twentieth-century American music. The day's events included papers, installations and performances given by members of Brooks’ undergraduate Charles Ives project. The morning began with musicological and analytical investigations of Ives' music and its position within the canon of American music. This was followed by an innovative and memorable lunchtime concert featuring songs and small instrumental works by the composer, alongside reactions to Ives composed and improvised by members of the project. The standard of performance was extremely high, with some of the works being presented in a humorous dramatic style to great effect. Coming out of the concert hall, the audience were greeted in the foyer by two exhibits, both detailing the subtle and intricate connection between Ives' works, influences and personality. Following this was the opportunity for the audience to participate in a 'community sing' of the music of Ives' life. This left the audience well prepared for David Nicholls' 'Who was Charles Ives' – described not as a talk, but as a quilt; drawing on many extra-musical sources such as Ives' family, classmates and even his barber to present an image of the composer as a man rather than as a musician. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the evening concert, featuring several larger works performed by project members alongside departmental ensembles including the 24, and members of the Symphony and Chamber orchestras. Two of the orchestral works, Country Band March, and the Set for Theatre Orchestra, had the performers confined to a smaller space on one side of the hall for ease of staging. While this did not seem to impact the performance – both pieces were played with energy and accuracy – the acoustic on the far side of the performers suffered. This was at most a minor fault however, and the seamless transition from Anna Edgington's rendition of Serenity to the final orchestral piece, Thanksgiving and Forefather's Day, verged on magical. The concert also featured several choral works, of which Psalm 90, performed by the 24, was particularly well received. Prof. Brooks himself took to the stage for a distinctive performance of one of the Five Street Songs, In the Alley, demonstrating the light-heartedness that is inherent in so much of Ives' work. More than anything else, the Ives Day highlighted the enormous breadth of this composer's conception; from simple hymns to some of the most experimental music of the twentieth-century. In the programme Brooks notes how his encounter with Ives' music changed his musical life forever, perhaps in the same way that Ives shaped the American contemporary musical language.