Judy Dunaway: Known for her sound works for latex balloons in JACKSON, MS

Interested in improvisation and improvisation-related works in our Jackson community?

Judy Dunaway is a composer, improvisor and conceptual artist who is primarily known for her sound works for latex balloons. Since 1990 Judy Dunaway has composed over thirty works for balloons as instruments and has also made this her main instrument for improvisation. Dunaway grew up in McComb, MS, and is currently a Visiting Lecturer in the Art History Department at Massachusett's College of Art and Design.

The Mississippi Improv Alliance will present Judy Dunaway in the Millsaps Lewis Art Gallery at 6:30pm, Saturday November 23rd.  

This is being presented as a free, public performance. Please encourage others to attend. This is an early notice for Jackson's improvisation advocates to help get the word out.

Judy Dunaway has presented her compositions and improvisations for balloons throughout North America and Europe at many venues and festivals including Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, REDCAT, the SoHo Arts Festival, the Alternative Museum, the Knitting Factory, Performance Space 122, Roulette, Experimental Intermedia, Soundlab, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Bang on a Can Festival, the Guelph Jazz Festival, Podewil and ZKM. She has performed as a balloon player in compositions by John Zorn and Roscoe Mitchell, and in improvisations and/or collaborations with the FLUX Quartet, performance artist Annie Sprinkle, video artist Zev Robinson, visual artists Nancy Davidson and Ken Butler, percussionists John Hollenbeck and Matt Moran, the Illuminati big band, DJ Singe, and numerous others. Her compositions for balloons include electronic and multi-media works, sound installations, and works that incorporate more traditional instrumentation such as string quartet, chorus and Japanese koto.

Awards include a recording grant from the Aaron Copland Fund of the American Music Center, a commission from the American Composers Forum's Composers Commissioning Fund, an artist/researcher-in-residency at Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medientechnologie, a recording residency at Harvestworks/Studio Pass, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer and the Kalliste Foundation. Ms. Dunaway has published two articles in Musicworks magazine about her work with balloons: A History of the Balloon as a Sound Producer in Experimental Music (Fall 2001), and, Orchestration and Playing Techniques for Balloons as Sound Producers (Spring 2002).

Here is a performance from last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wco4riogyw

Here is another video we enjoyed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCLCwAnZLl0

If you would like to participate further in presenting this work; helping to execute the day of or in contributing to an honorarium for the artist for presenting her work here in Jackson, contact Mississippi Happening mshappening@gmail.com