Silence in Miami

December 5th, 2009

Beauty, Horror  and Silence @ Harold Golen Gallery in Miami, FL

This weekend, I will be performing as part of this three day event that ends the 2009 12 Nights concert series. It coincides with Art Basel Miami, one of the biggest art festivals in North America. The series of concerts was curated by Juraj Kojs, who selected my piece desire for to open up the silence-themed Sunday concert.

A very fitting theme for this quiet piece inspired by distant alphorns my family and I heard one afternoon wafting through the window of our Swiss hotel. It was only after everyone had settled down from the dayʼs activities and committed themselves to silence that the music could be heard and enjoyed. It persisted for such a long time (literally hours) that it was a challenge of remain quiet. Thus the alphorns became a kind of replacement for complete silence the way that a room tone typically functions, but there was something far more pleasing and peaceful about them. Lulls in the conversation would last longer as we would extend our pauses to accommodate the distant, dreamy song. I found myself wishing that all silences could be filled with such beautiful and haunting drones.

2 Responses to “Silence in Miami”

  1. I’m sure it’ll be awesome, wish I could be there! Will you just be down there tomorrow, or have you seen any of the other performances? My friend Sarah O’Halloran (from UVa) performed an awesome piece for the Horror night.

    Wishing you a sane end-of-semester crunch!

  2. Unfortunately, I can only get down there for Sunday. I’ll be sticking around for Monday to visit some local high school students and then it’s back home. Same to you on the end-of-semester!

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