FUJ||||||||||TA // John McCowen & Madison Greenstone

Sound artist and composer FUJI||||||||||TA shares his latest work on the pipe organ, opened by contrabass clarinet duo, John McCowen & Madison Greenstone. 

FUJI||||||||||TA ’s latest set, A School of Sardines in the Pipe is a minimalist exploration of airwaves using just two organ pipes and an airbrush. While it marks a clear departure from his previous drone-approach, his commitment to acoustic sonic expression remains intact, and now pushed even further toward an extreme and highly personal style.

John McCowen & Madison Greenstone have been working together as a clarinet duo since 2016—exclusively performing John McCowen’s Mundanas works. Mundanas VII-XI (Mengi Records, Winter 2025) is a work inspired by the earthquake vibrations preceding the Fagradalsfjall volcanic eruption of March 2021 near John’s home in Reykjavík, Iceland where he recorded the demos for the album in his basement studio. For John, the earthquake’s rolling vibrations unconsciously shaped the music of Mundanas VII-XI, as recording was interrupted by a persistent pulse for weeks leading up to the eruption. The incredibly low, sine-like tone of the earthquakes created an incredible ever-increasing, visceral vibration. The parallels between this experience and the music are unambiguous — two contrabass clarinets emanating low, sine-like tones with shifting harmonics activated by these rumbling swells, emerging a wave of combinatorial frequencies — an acoustic stream of almost tactile sound.

A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing.