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The Boston Typewriter Orchestra performs at The Church on February 1. CARLIN STEIHL
Clack-clack-clackity-clack, ping! It’s time for different type of music in a whole new key at The Church which presents a live performance of the Boston Typewriter Orchestra on Saturday, February 1, at 6 p.m.
By way of rhythmic typewriter manipulation, this collective of keystroke musicians entertains audiences of all ages with performance, comedy and satire. The rhythm-heavy performance will see typewriters mimicking a wide variety of sounds, from bongo drum grooves to heavy metal (no pun intended) jams. For more than 20 years, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra has been the only typewriter orchestra in existence, and the evening is guaranteed to be a one-of-a-kind experience. Its members are Derrik Albertelli, James Brockman, Eric Donohue, Alex Holman, Chris Keene, Giordana Mecagni and Brendan Quigley.
What is an instrument? Can music be performed on objects of the business world? What is the intersection of industry and art? Where can we find beauty and purpose in the world’s relentless grind and repetition? The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a collective percussive ensemble for typewriter and voice based in the Boston area. Creative. For 15 years the Boston Typewriter Orchestra has posed these questions, challenging the very notion of music itself. Liberated from the rules of traditional music, the BTO continues to reinvent itself with every song. Yet through the din, listeners can hear elements of dub, metal, musique concrète, kraut, French house and garage to name but a few genres they routinely explore.
Throughout its shows, the BTO maintains office chic garb contemporaneous with the typewriters they play; a corporate land before time where The Boss is never-present but always just around the corner. The members themselves are portrayed as corporate drones, who, despite their own self-inflicted wounds, still represent and celebrate disrupting the corporate monoculture from within.
Founded in 2004, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra got its start appearing at house parties, art galleries and street festivals. The group has since performed on local, national and international radio and television programs and appeared in the documentary “California Typewriter.” BTO has released several singles and five albums, the most recent of which is a collection of remixes entitled “Delegation.”
Beyond the show itself, the BTO seeks to educate and evangelize the archaic machines they use, allowing folks an opportunity to connect with history and industrial technology, sometimes for the first time.
Tickets for the performance are $20 (members $15, $10 admission for children under 12) at thechurchsagharbor.org. The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor.
Staff Writer on Jan 10, 2025