Flute/light Project Video 3: Kyle Rowan’s Komorebi

Dissertation Recording Session No. 1, PC: Wayne Reich.

“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike” (John Muir, from The Yosemite).

Often, I find myself yearning for mountains and trees somewhere, anywhere. There’s something wonderfully restorative about out-of-the-way places—and the time it takes to enjoy them. Imagine you’re in a forest. Maybe you’re sitting on its pine-needle floor or blazing a trail. Either way, picture afternoon sunlight being filtered by trees around you. There’s a warm glow that shimmers through leaves and needles, vibrant like a live wire.

Dr. Kyle Rowan uses sound and light intermedia to capture this forest-light phenomenon in his composition Komorebi for solo flute and lighting, the third video in my flute and light project! The Japanese word Komorebi, roughly translated, means: sunlight filtering through leaves.

Okay—but wait. Flute and light project? Intermedia? Third video? What am I yakking about? Let me get you up to speed!

Here’s an info video I made about my flute/light intermedia art project!
And here are links to the first two cinematic videos:

Anna Meadors’ At Daybreak
Stuart Saunders Smith’s The Circle of Light.

Komorebi’s lighting concept features shifting shadows and colors that fade in and out puckishly. I’d say the music complements the lighting—but it more than complements it. Together, they are sprightly, caressing, shimmering, enveloping. Together.

Lighting technicians Katherine Ward and Abigail Simoneau manually controlled the lighting board faders in this video production. Wayne Reich and Ben Singer created the cinematic video. All recording was done on December 3, 2016 in UNCG’s Brown Building Theatre. My heartfelt thanks to all who helped me make this video—including those who took the time to teach me a thing or two about lighting boards!

Wayne published a post about Komorebi on his blog. Check it out for a glimpse into his perspective as videographer and some great pictures of the editing process!

Flute/light Project Video 2: Stuart Saunders Smith’s The Circle of Light

PC: Sarah Busman. Used with permission.

Video numero II id est. I decided to release my flute/light cinematic videos in the order of my premiere concert in September 2016. That brings us to Stuart Saunders Smith’s The Circle of Light: A Ceremony for solo flute and eight lumanists.

Flute and light? Video No. 2? Not sure what I’m talking about? No worries! I’ll catch you up in a jiffy.

Check out the info video I made about my flute/light intermedia art project!

And here’s the link to the first cinematic video (Anna Meadors’ At Daybreak), along with some more background information.

The Circle of Light is a 17 minute piece performed in almost complete darkness, with slowly changing lighting and repetitive musical material. The result is a lyrical, meditative atmosphere. And people—the flutist, lumanists (flashlightists), audience, and composer—are united through the experience of this atmosphere.

Still with me? For a second, forget that you have photos to post to Instagram, calls to return, or a Tumblr feed to update. Take a moment to appreciate your surroundings. Is there a clock ticking in the distance? Maybe you can smell coffee or feel the warmth of the sun. That’s what I mean by atmosphere. Perhaps you tell someone, “Wow, that coffee smells nice!” And then, that someone takes notice of it. You are united in your mutual awareness of the aroma. It’s possible you are even united in your mutual enjoyment of it!

Because this unifying awareness of atmosphere is essential to The Circle of Light, I think it’s best to experience the piece live. That being said, the audio and visual team Ben Singer and Wayne Reich, along with my lumanist performers (Bethany Uhler, Noah Cline, Janine Neprud, Stephany Saunders, Erik Schmidt, Amy Karnes, Asher Carlson, and Abigail Simoneau), all did an incredible job helping me create this cinematic video and contemplative atmosphere! The Circle of Light was recorded in Brown Building Theatre at the University of North Carolina Greensboro on December 3, 2016. I was assisted by lighting technician Katherine Ward.

Since darkness is so important to Dr. Smith’s piece, try watching with your lights off!

Wayne has published a thoughtful blog post about this transcendental work on his website. Check it out here.

Flute/Light Project Video 1: Anna Meadors’ At Daybreak

Dissertation Recording Session No. 1, PC: Ben Singer.

Graduation. It’s coming, and time is flying as relentlessly as ever! In less than a month, I’ll be “commencing” post-degree life for a third time. And then, I’ll officially be able to put two letters in front of my name: D-R.

I’m feeling a bit sentimental, so I’m going to share what I’ve been working on for the last year and a half. Well, okay. Really, I’m just plain excited about what I’ve been doing, and I’m going to burst soon if I don’t share it.

Way back in middle school, tiny Krisztina was given her first taste of intermedia art. I’ve been addicted ever since. When the time came to ponder my dissertation topic, it was only natural for me to think: intermedia.

What’s intermedia art, you ask? A fine question! Very simply, it’s the integration of diverse artistic mediums. See my flute/light project intro video for a more thorough explanation, here!

Fast-forward through some life experience, performance opportunities, and research; and I had narrowed my field of study to two specific mediums: sound and light. Then, back in February 2016, I began my flute/light commission project.

Sound and light—both are manifestations of kinetic energy. A great deal can be observed about them: their frequencies, amplitudes, velocities. Their union is found in thunder and lighting, electricity, and even black holes. It’s nearly impossible to imagine a world without them! But Aristotelian questions remain: What is the essence of energy, sound, and light? This mystery fills me with tremulous wonder when I listen to a Brahms symphony or observe the stars; and I am compelled that it is this very mystery that lends sound and light their dramatic power in the arts.

This blog post is No. 1 in a series of five video releases that mark the culmination of my flute/light project! The first? Anna Meadors’ At Daybreak for flute, percussion, and lighting.

Anna’s piece is the origin story of light, as told by Italo Calvino in “At Daybreak” from Cosmicomics. The music and light work in synergy to portray a nebulous opening, followed by a condensing of the nebulous matter, the sudden creation of light, and its disappearance at nightfall. Because there is lighting throughout the piece, I always find myself anticipating the dramatic moment when THE light will burst into the story.

We were all burning in the fire. Or rather: we weren’t burning, we were immersed in it as in a dazzling forest; the flames shot high over the whole surface of the planet, a fiery air in which we could run and float and fly, and we were gripped with a new joy (Italo Calvino, from “At Daybreak”).

All video footage for At Daybreak was recorded in Brown Building Theatre at the University of North Carolina Greensboro on December 3, 2016. I was assisted by percussionist Erik Schmidt and lighting technician Katherine Ward. The cinematic video was created by audio and visual team Wayne Reich and Ben Singer. I can’t begin to say how thankful I am to each of them for their contributions to the project!

Wayne has published a blog post on his website about the video production of At Daybreak with cool pictures of the editing process! Check it out here.

Stay tuned for more videos, and thanks for reading!