JOAN LA BARBARA AND THE NEW WILDERNESS PRESERVATION BAND, 1973–74

Abstract

AbstractJoan La Barbara's involvement in the New Wilderness Preservation Band is an often cited but virtually unknown period of her history. And yet it may have been one of the most generative periods of her early career. Drawing upon archival documents, unreleased recordings and interviews, I narrate the history of the band, including La Barbara's early use of extended vocal techniques. I argue that her work in the band reflected a mode of collaborative authorship that is often lost in retellings of her history, and that her emergence in 1974 as a composer reflected a broader tension around authorship in bands and ensembles during these years.