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Garden of Memory

Michael Zwiebach on June 8, 2010
Chapel of the Chimes

Every year, New Music Bay Area observes the summer solstice with a day of music at Oakland's Chapel of the Chimes. Audience members just walk through and discover different musical groups playing in various areas throughout the building and grounds. Because of the way Julia Morgan designed the Chapel, you don't really hear the other musicians until you're right in front of them. It's kind of like a musical maze.

Over the years, this has become a major event in the East Bay during June, with hundreds of visitors, including a large number of children, coming through over the course of a day. This year will be no exception to the rule, because NMBA has brought together a number of headlining acts from the alternative music world: Paul Dresher, Pamela Z, Amy X. Neuberg, Gyan Riley, Joel Davel, Maggi Payne, and others will all be there. If you'd like to go, try to use public transportation (or carpool), because there's limited parking. You might need a bottle of water, but you won't need breadcrumbs: Maps of the event will be available.