I was at a work conference yesterday that spoke to thinking outside the box and advancing our art into new paradigms using the technology and media that we have. Eric Whitacre came into the conversation, and I am very familiar with his work and thought I should revisit it and share it with others. He is a choral composer from the West coast and the modern equivalent of a rock star in that industry. He has movie star good-looks to back up his tremendous talent and outreach. Everyone should know his work. I first became acquainted with it via the pageantry arts where winter guards started using his pieces and even drum corps would adapt his epic compositions for the field. They are complex clusters of heavenly chords. But where we has pushed the envelope are his forays into the digital age. His first big "hit" was Sleep; where he opened his composition to a virtual world where singers across the globe could access the score along with his conducting of it - and then submit their own personal vocal track. Produced by Christophe Taddei and mixed by Floating Earth, it took 1752 vocalists from 78 countries and edited them into a glorious output.
More recently he went "live" with a virtual chorus of 150 selected vocalists from around the globe and conducted them in a unison concert of his Lux Aurumque. Both are amazing.
A little technology tidbit for the day. And right here in our own backyard from some residents of South Mpls. It comes from Zach Supalla; he and his team have come up with a new form of smart light socket called a Spark. It is a cyclinder that attaches between your lamp and the light bulb. But where technology takes a massive turn is that it uses a chip called an Arduino that enables us to adjust that light bulb remotely via wi-fi. So if you are away from home and running late, you can turn on that front room light from work. Or program the lights while you are away on vacation. The web part of this is a free app which anyone can access. The more difficult part is the physical hardware which is not yet easily affordable or available. In the meantime, the innovators are mounting a Kickstarter campaign to help generate $250K for production line costs. It only takes a spark.....
I
have had this post brewing for some time, and Thanksgiving seemed the
appropriate time to put it in writing. This is the time of year for
reflection and looking back. And this year has been monumental in that
regard.
Every
year and day are measured in benchmarks - events that you can look back
on and a moment becomes a memory. Perhaps because I am now so much
older - in my 50s - these benchmarks seem to be larger and more potent.
Instead of measuring a month or even a year - they now have tags on them
where they amount to decades. This fall we had a reunion for the
Rosettes - the first color guard I taught when I moved here. The defunct
organization is 50 years old and the time I put in with them is 25
years back. I went to DCI this summer with a childhood friend from my
formative days in Erie and celebrated its 40th history. What makes this
astounding is that I can say I was actually participating in the very
onset of the activity. It is still a large part of my vocation. I
started my new job this Fall with the youth theater that honed my
teaching skills 20+ years ago. My house is getting closer to being paid
off and it is almost 15 years that I have tended to its gardens now. It
is boggling if I ponder on it too much. But yet it is important to stop
and pay homage to it and honor these monumental passings. Just as you
observe the people that pass in and out of our lives. I have a last
grandmother that is in her mid 90s. I am raising my 3rd adult dog in my
lifetime. Still learning in a new relationship. All profound reflections
at the end of the day. Take time to notice them.
"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings... The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of our memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these."
