STAR FIELD. SATURDAY. NEATO

New Music Fans! Take a moment and turn your attention to STAR FIELD , the latest collaborative effort helmed by our friend and fellow composer, James Partidge.  We asked James about the intention that drove such an elaborate collaborative effort and his thoughts about presenting new music in a contemporary art/gallery setting,  here is what he had to say..

 We wanted to present this concert in a space that we were able to define ourselves.  That is why it seemed a natural fit to approach Parse Art Gallery. We're using the beautiful third floor space and installing are own artwork to match each piece of music. Jacques Duffourc has created a revolving screen that will have projections thrown on it as each piece is played.  Therefore, not only the projections but the backdrop will shift for each song.  These 7 different backdrops, for 7 different pieces of music (written by 7 different composers!), will be painted by Jacques Duffourc, Page Goss and Francis Wong.  We've created a fully immersive concert experience.

Partridge describes Star Field  as an interactive performance between musicians, artists, and community members. Seven  diverse groups of people living in New Orleans converged with  seven New Orleans  composers who each wrote one piece of music related to their respective community group. The resulting compositions will be played by Partridges large ensemble, The Giant Peach, which features Simon Lott, Emily Fredrickson, Jason Weaver, James Partridge, Jeronne Amari Ansari, Ricio Fruge, John Maestas. Collaborating composers on for the project are  Rex Gregory, Simon Lott, Jeronne Amari Ansari, Allen Hall, Ricio Fruge, Jacques Duffourc, and Jimbo Walsh. Visual projection and installation by Jacques Duffourc, Page Goss, Francis Wong, and filmographer Ana Dunjic.

ALL OF THIS is happening one night only, THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 18 at 7:30PM  at Parse Gallery in the CBD. If you are reading this blog post, we think you should make it your personal mission to attend this unique event.  We have also been informed that your ticket to the show includes an open bar... Nice one James. 

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New Music & New Friends - Saying Goodbye To The Dostis

Dosti is an Urdu and Hindi word meaning friendship and we've found that it perfectly describes the Found Sound Nation's music project.  The fellows came from various cities in Pakistan, India, and the United States and have been traveling the southern states together for one month, creating new music, sharing discoveries and teaching audiences about their home countries through their unique styles and instruments. They created original music from the diverse instrumentation that they were presented with while inevitably inventing new genres altogether. Tatiana Silver Hargreaves, American roots style fiddle player crossed frequencies with a classical sarodist, Debanjan Bhattacharjee from India. A live electronic artist manipulated the mic during a vocal tabla solo, and a 103 year old sarangi played by one of four sarangi players in Pakistan today harmonized with a clarinet.

It was really a spectacular set of performances last week at various venues and each one very different from the last. The first night at the Blue Nile harbored the improvisational, unpredictable, and unplanned, and the final show at Snug Harbor was an amalgamation of the pieces that have been in the creative process since the group first met. The Tigermen Den was an especially beautiful night in which the Bywater locals meandered in, not knowing quite what to expect, and perhaps being a bit surprised, but definitely pleased, at what they found, an event featuring the amazing food from the chef at Bhava, a very engaged audience, and also featuring the entrancing sound of the G-String Orchestra and lively rhythms of Steamboat Calypso.

As awesome of a musical endeavor this is for obvious artistic reasons, it is also important to note the social implications of the Dosti Music Project. Co-founders of Found Sound Nation and the Dosti Music Project, Jeremy Thal and Chris Marianetti, hope to remind people that there is in fact peace and productivity between these nations, though the media tends to prefer not to portray that side of the spectrum. This music is a small example of friendship and the breaking of social or political constructs in order to create something beautiful and beneficial to all people. Through music, the most diverse group of people and perspectives become a singularity, a friendship. Friendship is made through music and the music is made through friendship.

To learn more about each individual musician and their bounty of incredible accomplishments, visit their profiles on the Dosti website at http://dostimusic.org/musicians/

ALSO, to read more about some current social initiatives by the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, made possible by music, check out this awesome article http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/13-Mar-2015/pakistani-showcase-at-the-south-by-southwest-music-festival

...and stay tuned for whats next from SONO!

SONO + DOSTI MUSIC PROJECT MARCH 9-17

THE SOUND OBSERVATORY is pleased to announce our first New Orleans new music residency in partnership with Bang on a Can's FOUND SOUND NATION. March 9 we will welcome ten Dosti Music Fellows to the Bywater for 8 days to collaboratively write, record and perform an album of original music born out of these collaborations. 

The Dosti Music Project brings together musicians from Pakistan, India, and the U.S. for a monthlong residency and tour (February 23-March 21, 2015). An initiative of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation, Dosti invites four Pakistanis, four Indians, and two U.S. musicians from a wide variety of traditions, ranging from Sufi singing to beatmaking to avant-garde jazz, to collaboratively write, record, and perform original music, re-invent traditional music, and develop initiatives that will make a positive impact on communities locally and internationally. Dosti, which means friendship in both Urdu and Hindi, seeks to transcend political and cultural barriers through cross-cultural musical collaboration.

SONO has curated a first class New Orleans experience for these innovative musicians starting with a crash course in New Orleans styles and history from the Lady herself, Germaine Bazzle and master Mitchell Player. The Fellows will perform some of their new work in small and large ensembles collaborating with some of the city's most innovative and encompassing musicians in a variety of different settings. They will erect a free, public street studio outside of Dancing Grounds on St. Claude Avenue during second Saturday and invite everyone to lend their musical talents ( or lack thereof ) to the collaborative effort. They will experience Super Sunday, a dinner pop-up at the Tigermen's Den, a lecture and demonstration for a 9th ward middle school orchestra and a classy culminating performance at the legendary Snug Harbor before moving on to the dusty chaos of the SXSW Music Festival. We will keep you updated on the happenings and you give us a shout if you want to get involved.. deal?