La Jolla Symphony Chorus premieres Nathan Davis
We no longer live in a world of events; we live in a world of experiences. Whether going to an art museum or an amusement park, we now have what marketers call a visitor patagonia better sweater coat women2experience. This shift is not lost on composer Nathan Davis. The premiere of his a Sound uttered, a Silence crossed [Ask] Saturday at UC San Diego by conductor David Chase, the La Jolla Symphony Chorus (minus the symphony) and the percussion ensemble red fish blue fish was not patagonia better sweater coat women1so much a performance as an experience.Words by librettist Laura Mullpatagonia better sweater womens coaten flashed across a screen, some sung by the chorus, other not.Chorus members spoke, shouted, sang, made odd noises and at one point, turned around and addressed each other in a piece that traces human utterance from birth to death and beyond.Sounds emerged from speakers in the auditorium, mosbuy patagonia vancouvertly thpatagonia better sweater coat women3e amplified percpatagonia down with it jacket reviewussion and voices, but also some disembodied voices and sampled sounds (including a dial tone at one point).And about halfway through the piece, the capacity audience in Mandeville Auditorium was invited to call (646) 257 2063 on their cell phones. Initially, the line was dead, although it was like the ending to The Sopranos, where there s only silence and you aren t sure if it s a mistake or intentional. But eventually someone started saying the letters X and O, and then someone sang what sounded like a gospel song; more silence, a phonepatagonia insulated better sweater hoody mens closeout rings, and then somebody close to tears mourned the death of someone close.It s an ingenious piece you can access in any number of ways, and consequently, everybody has their own experience.What was my experience? I found it an intriguing first step in a direction ripe with possibility and peril. The cell phone aspect, once you were locked in, wapatagonia better sweater coat womens surprisingly effective and provided a strange, almost disturbingly intimate aspect to the piece.Projecting not just the text, but also adpatagonia discount code bargainditional thoughts, feelingpatagonia better sweater coat women0s, metaphysical musings and what have patagonia discount code isotoneryou on a screen also worked to an unexpected degree.Davis certainly knows how to keep an audience engaged. But if the presentation and interactive elements were imaginative, even cutting edge, the music itself was nonthreatening. The restrained percussion was mostly atmospheric and the chorus had the bulk of the work s mpatagonia everlong review laptopsusical substance.Given the unusual nature of the piece and especially the audience participation aspect, more setup would have been helpful. There was obvious confusion about the cell phones and most people had given up by the time the crying in your ear began (for those still connected).Instead, the concert, which also included Steven Schick conducting the orchestra in a heroic albeit uneven Mahler Symphony No. 5, started with an extended video on the organization s 60 year history. Then there was there was a heartfelt pitch asking people to donate to the ensemble s endowment drive.Goodness knowspatagonia guide pants no hands this is an institution that despatagonia guide pants that converterves support, given its deep community roots and worthy projects like the Davis piece, which it commissioned. But 15 minutes spent on a video and the accompanying plea for money was an experience I could have done without.
