1961
On March 11, 1961, Max Neuhaus performed with the Manhattan School of Music Percussion Ensemble at the Harkaway Theater (Bennett College) in Millbrook, New York.
The ensemble accompanied the Erick Hawkins and Dance Company. Neuhaus, under the direction of Paul Price, provided the live percussion for a program of major 20th-century works.
The Program:
Malloy Miller: Prelude for Percussion.
Michael Colgrass: Inventions on a Motive.
Lou Harrison: Canticle No. 1.
Armand Russell: Percussion Suite.
Alan Hovhaness: October Mountain.
Cole Iverson: Contrarhythmic Ostenato.
Artistic Significance
Dance & Percussion: This event highlighted the close link between the Erick Hawkins Dance Company and the Paul Price Percussion Ensemble. Hawkins, a former lead dancer for Martha Graham, was known for his "free-floating" technique which required highly nuanced, often Eastern-influenced percussion textures like those of Hovhaness and Harrison.
Neuhaus’s Versatility: Performing October Mountain and Canticle No. 1 required Neuhaus to master delicate, atmospheric timbres—a stark contrast to the aggressive "virtuoso" style of his later work with Stockhausen.
This performance at Bennett College occurred just three days before the "Unknown Performance" in NYC (March 14) and served as a vital precursor to his Bachelor’s degree completion in May 1961.