Dear Every Body,
The subject is correct. Live Performance attended by a live audience happening tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday 08.06 + 08.07 in this year of Covid19 2020.
Writing from PS21 (on land of the Mohican) in Chatham, NY - about 20 minutes Northeast of Hudson, NY.
Here with Alan Pierson and the wildly talented musicians of Alarm Will Sound working on their production of John Luther Adams's Ten Thousand Birds. One of the adaptations is for an open-air pavilion setting which can safely allow audience members and musicians to corporeally share this experience. Additionally, I'm designing and directing an ambulatory work on the grounds of the space entitled Follow me into the Fields. This work disperses performers along acres of trails marked by 10' tall, sky-blue pillars adorned with bird flight, a few frogs and access to calls and images. The invitation is to allow audience members to listen with their entire bodies and assemble sonic compositions of their individual making organized through their perception of the interplay of nature, musician, and documented artifacts.
While I'm a major advocate for the live cyberworks that are being created and developed these days and continue to encourage anyone interested to pursue the furthering of this burgeoning form (I have a few more of these in the works. Go cyberformance! It's real, it's safe, it's live, there's a way to fund it: figure it out. Real arts lovers support safe cyberart - see below for access to ZoomOSC...) it is pretty thrilling to be talking to people about how bodies will move through time and space. Working on irl performance when the opportunity arises feels more necessary than ever. The portrait shot and all that it frames has been hyper active these last few months while the rest of the self has been in a freeze-frame. Inviting audience and artists to gather - to put their bodies on the line - is a big ask. And I am grateful and inspired by how Alarm and PS21 are diligently working to ensure that everyone is and feels safe. Perceiving this security is paramount. Only when the gathered see that the rule of 6' is being observed and that everyone around them has assembled en masque can the artist enter the flow of creative performance and the audience become an open receiver able to "see better" the world around them - their molecules altered.
So here's to more of that. Here's to the future of the form which includes the integration of all that we're learning. And here's to supporting each other and demanding that our society respects and truly supports our artists in all their disciplines, lineages, experiences as we continue to forge a democratic ideal and the soul-deepening opportunities we create with every work we make.
Information about each of these performances below.
If you're unable to make it irl but want to check out Follow me... I will be streaming a version on ig live: @tatatime_ on Thursday 8/6 @ 18.00 est
And the Gala performance of Ten Thousand Birds will be streamed live on PS21s Facebook page on Friday 8/7 @ 19.00 est
Keep reading beyond information about this week's performance for links to works by a few other artists who's work can be experienced right now as well as a project I'm making with some incredible collaborators over the next few months.
FOLLOW ME INTO THE FIELDS
08.06.20 @ 18.00 eastern
On-Site + In-Person
At PS21
Meet at Crellin Park
2940 Route 66
Chatham, NY 12037
And streaming on IG live @tatatime_
TEN THOUSAND BIRDS
08.07.20 @ 16.00 eastern
On-Site + In-Person
At PS21
2980 Route 66
Chatham, NY 12037
Tickets
&
@ 19.00 eastern
as a part of PS21s Gala (in person)
and streaming via PS21s Facebook Page
TEN THOUSAND BIRDS is based on the songs of birds that are native to, or migrate through, the area in which the piece is performed. Inspired by birdsong, composer John Luther Adams connects nature and music in subtle yet profound ways. The performance, directed by conductor Alan Pierson and opera director Ashley Tata, transforms PS21’s open-air setting; as the birdsongs become music, the entire surroundings become a performance space, blurring the lines between human creativity and natural phenomena.
“One of my greatest hopes for my music is that it may be of use. So I’m thrilled that Alan [Alan Pierson, Alarm Will Sound Artistic Director and Conductor] and the musicians of Alarm Will Sound have found such a creative use for Ten Thousand Birds. At this difficult moment, it’s more import- ant than ever for us to remember our connections with the larger-than-human world, and to celebrate the never-end- ing music of this miraculous planet that is our one and only home.”
–John Luther Adams, about this upcoming performance
John Luther Adams, Ten Thousand Birds
Conceived and designed by Alan Pierson
Directed by Alan Pierson with Ashley Tata
Production design by Gavin Chuck
Staging by Peter Ferry
ALARM WILL SOUND PERSONNEL
John Romeri, flute
Hayley Grainger, flute
Christa Robinson, oboe
Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet
Elisabeth Stimpert, clarinets
Michael Harley, bassoon
Laura Weiner, horn
Tim Leopold, trumpet
Hakeem Bilal, trombone
Jeffrey Irving, percussion
Eric Poland, percussion
Matt Smallcomb, percussion
John Orfe, piano, keyboards
Courtney Orlando, violin
Chris Otto, violin
Dana Kelley, viola
Jay Campbell, cello
Logan Coale, bass
Miles Brown, bass
Alan Pierson, conductor and Artistic Director
Gavin Chuck, Executive Director
Annie Toth, General Manager
Jason Varvaro, Production Manager
Peter Ferry, Assistant Director of Artistic Planning
Chihiro Shibayama, Librarian
PS21 STAFF
Elena Siyanko, Executive Director; Kelly Mackerer, Operations Director; Nina Mankin, Development Director; Kelsie Qua, Administrative Associate; Sandy Cleary, Producing Associate; Oleg Balitskiy, Lead Technician; Delia Ernst, Electrician; Connor Martin, Audio Engineer; Liz Connell, Stagehand
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