The ONCE Group, a coalition of artists, architects, composers, and filmmakers that emerged from experimental theater activities at Ann Arbor's Dramatic Arts Center. The group explored new approaches to art and performance by combining music, dance, theater, and film in multimedia presentations.
Active in the 1960s, the ONCE Group toured extensively in the United States and internationally, performing at institutions including the Roosevelt University in Chicago, Case Institute in Cleveland, Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Milwaukee Art Center in Wisconsin. The group participated in the 1964 Venice Biennale and the 1965 São PauloArt Biennial, and performed at the first New York Theatre Rally in 1965. Its international engagements also included performances in Brazil and Venezuela.
In 1966, the ONCE Group presented ONCE-OFF, a program of four works at Ann Arbor High School Auditorium to raise funds for a European tour, with performances scheduled in Stockholm, Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Barcelona, and Paris.
In 1968, the ONCE Group premiered it's final work, Ashley's The Trial of Anne Opie Wehrer and Unknown Accomplices for Crimes Against Humanity, featuring Anne Wehrer answering prerecorded questions while two inquisitors cross-examined her responses. The work premiered in April 1968 at the University of Wisconsin in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The group presented it in various stagings across the United States in 1968 and 1969, including at Grand Valley State College in Allendale, Michigan; Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, California; and the Electric Circus in New York City.
During the years the festival was active, a number of avant-garde composers’ works were performed along with performances in dance, jazz (Eric Dolphy) and rock and roll. Composers represented include: Robert Ashley, Pauline Oliveros, David Behrman, George Cacioppo, George Crevoshay, Donald Scavarda, Roger Reynolds, Gordon Mumma, Meredith Monk, Bruce Wise, Robert Sheff (a.k.a. 'Blue' Gene Tyranny), and Philip Krumm. The musical compositions and works in dance and avant-garde performance art pushed the limits of then current artistic endeavour and inclusiveness well beyond their limits. The festival served as a laboratory for the development of new approaches in both acoustic and electronic music as well as dance, film and multi-media performance.
Further reading
Cohen, Milton. “Space Theatre,” from Dimension No. 14, 1963. University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.
Hitchcock, H. Wiley. “The Current Chronicle,” from Musical Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 2, 1962. Oxford University Press.
James, Richard. “ONCE: Microcosm of the 1960s Musical and Multimedia Avant-Garde,” from American Music, Vol. 5, No. 4. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Kasemets, Udo. “The Current Chronicle,” from Musical Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 4, 1964. Oxford University Press.
Miller, Leta. ONCE and Again: The Evolution of a Legendary Festival, from the CD Box Set Music from the ONCE Festival 1961–1966. New York: New World Records CD 80567-2, 2003.
Mumma, Gordon. “The ONCE Festival and How It Happened,” Arts in Society, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1967, Madison, WI. Revised by Gordon Mumma 2008. Copyright 2008 by Gordon Mumma.
Reynolds, Roger. Preface to score publication from Generation, Vol. 15, unmarked number, 1963. University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.
Sheff, Robert and Mark Slobin. “Music Beyond the Boundaries,” from Generation, Vol. 17, No. 2, 1965. University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.
Weingarten, Emily. The Music of ONCE: Perpetual Innovation. July 2008.
↑Mumma, Gordon. “The ONCE Festival and How It Happened,” Arts in Society, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1967, Madison, WI. Revised by Gordon Mumma 2008. Copyright 2008 by Gordon Mumma.
