Calculus

Madison Greenstone first picked up the clarinet at age nine. Before they had learned to sight-read, they joined a klezmer band at their childhood temple, in a suburb of San Francisco. Although they consider themselves non-practicing today, Greenstone remains fascinated by “the mystical or arcane aspects of Judaism”—an interest that inspired their exstatic resonances for solo clarinet that draw on Greenstone’s ongoing studies in phenomenology, self-generative music, and kabbalistic thought.

In CALCULUS, Greenstone lays out the textual, philosophical, and poetic influences on their solo practice. Throughout, they discuss the various artists and thinkers who have informed their work, including Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Éliane Radigue, David Tudor, Massimo Cacciari, Henry Flynt, Z’ev, and others.

“I will try to illuminate some of the deeper undercurrents of meaning that enliven the whole system,” explains Greenstone in CALCULUS.

“Not only by writing about the sonic qualities of my instrumental practice, but by writing through it with a process that is similar to my practice in sound: iterative, circling the same moment of instigation, keeping ambivalences in active play.”

Madison Greenstone performs widely as a soloist and chamber musician. They are the clarinetist of TAK Ensemble, and a founding member of the [Switch~ Ensemble]. Trained in contemporary classical performance, they have learned greatly from the mentorship of Anthony Burr and Charles Curtis at UC San Diego. Greenstone lives in Brooklyn.

Specifications

• 28 pages
• 5 x 8 inches
• Saddle-stitched; risograph
• Edition of 150
• May 2024