Visiting Artist -Jaap Blonk

Co-sponsored by the Department of English; Theatre Arts & Dance; Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature; German, Nordic, Scandinavian & Dutch; and the Center for German & European Studies.

About the artist:

Jaap Blonk (born 1953 in Woerden, Netherlands) is a self-taught composer, vocalist, poet and visual artist. His unfinished studies in mathematics and musicology mainly created a penchant for activities in a Dada vein, as did several unsuccessful jobs in offices and other well-organized systems. In the early 1980s he discovered the power and flexibility of his voice, and set out on a long-term research of phonetics and the possibilities of the human voice. At present, he has developed into a specialist in the creation and performance of sound poetry and a unique vocal improviser, supported by a powerful and uninhibited stage presence. He performs and gives workshops worldwide on a regular basis. With the use of live electronics the scope and range of his concerts has acquired a considerable extension. To this date Blonk’s music has appeared on 30 CDs with his own Kontrans label; many other recordings as well as about a dozen books with his visual work have been published in several countries.

Sample his work.