The Thingamajigs was founded as an art project in 1997 at Mills College, Oakland California. Created by Edward Schocker and Dylan Bolles, the project was originally conceived as a forum for composers/performers who develop new and unique ways of producing sound. The project soon broke out of the college environment and into an annual music festival called Music for People & Thingamajigs.
In 2004 a permanent group of organizers and advisors was created. They articulated the essential mission of the Thingamajigs: to develop and nurture the exploration of alternate materials and methods of creating sound, as well as promote collaborative efforts with other artistic disciplines. In addition to the annual festival, the project began offering arts education workshops in local schools, providing instruction in the creation and performance of handmade musical instruments. The festival added free community/family programs to support the linkage the Thingamajigs Project's arts education and presenting objectives.
In 2005 Thingamajigs added its Pacific Exchange Series, which brings composers and performers from diverse areas of the Pacific Rim, such as Japan, Chile, Vietnam, and Australia together in order to exchange ideas and create music on a single concert stage. The organizers created this program to emphasize the commonalities of artists living on the Pacific Rim, as well as to showcase their diversity.
In 2006 Thingamajigs formalized its arts education program into Thingamakids!, which is a series of workshops, demonstrations, and performances designed for K-8 schools. This program works with children, cultivating hands-on instrument building, music appreciation, the study of sound produced through made and found objects, introduces fundamentals of experimental music found in the work of Henry Cowell, Harry Partch, Lou Harrison and John Cage and scaffolds “deep listening,” a composer's sound practice developed by Pauline Oliveros.
Now in its 13th year of existence, Thingamajigs is recognized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Past participants of Thingamajigs' events include Pauline Oliveros, Walter Kitundu, Carla Kihlstedt, Peter Whitehead, Brenda Hutchinson, William Winant and Laetitia Sonami.
Thingamjigs
PO Box 9826
Oakland, CA 94613
