A towering but still-too-little-known figure in the world of musical minimalism, New York-born composer, pianist, and singer Julius Eastman blazed a trail through experimental music circles from his 1966 debut at NYC’s Town Hall to his premature death in 1990 at 49 years of age. Since then a new generation of scholars and fans have begun to reclaim Eastman from his undeserved obscurity, a process we’re eager to contribute to with this program focusing on Eastman and the world of way out mid-century avant-garde music that he shaped and was shaped by. Co-curated by Anaïs Ngbanzo, whose new documentary on Eastman, A Different Score, which includes never-before-seen footage from Eastman’s archives and will have its world premiere at Metrograph, and musician Devonté Hynes, a longtime admirer of Eastman’s work who plays a central role in Ngbanzo’s film.

“The beauty of these films lie in the artists, the scenes and music they portray, some of them for the very interesting way they were filmed.”–Anaïs Ngbanzo

“These films are inspiring to me and share a key creative and musical link, I go back to them often.”–Devonté Hynes