The Chicago Bass Ensemble (they all appeared on Contrabass Conversations a few years ago) will be performing at a gallery opening this Friday. Details follow–check it out if you can!
ARC Gallery: “Beneath” by Cheri Reif Naselli
Opening Reception, with music by Chicago Bass Ensemble
Friday, June 25, 2010
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation
832 W. Superior Street, #204
Chicago, Illinois
Below the surface, there is unseen truth that is often overlooked or misunderstood but manages to prevail regardless of our construct.
Visual artist Cheri Reif Naselli’s installation “Beneath” will be at the ARC Gallery from June 23rd to July 17th. At the opening reception on Friday, June 25th, we will perform a number of pieces from our repertoire.
The emotional power of music added to visuals is well known by advertisers and movie makers. But especially in the case of advertising, one is forced to wonder if these are the true emotions rising from within us, or are we being “played” by the creators of the scenes we’re watching?
By performing at the opening of Cheri Reif Naselli’s exhibit, we offer the audience the opportunity to explore how the presence or absence of music affects their perception of the visual artwork on display. By alternating performances of some of our repertoire with silence–i.e. not music, since a gallery opening is likely to be filled with human conversation–the attendees (that’s you) can gauge how their experiences of the works differ in the presence of music vs. silence.
During the three hours of the opening reception, we will perform in stretches from five to twenty minutes at a time. In between, the sounds will be the “usual” sounds of a gallery reception. We have chosen pieces that themselves have a variety of emotional impacts, and you will be able to “pair” these pieces–or the silence between–with the visual work on display, to experience your own reactions.
Visit our website for details of the performance schedule.
WordPress Site and Blog
Not that long ago, I converted our website to operate using the WordPress engine. Instead of my scrappy attempts at clever PHP coding, the site has a convenient editing interface and cool widgets to provide such things as a contact form and analytics tracking.
And there’s a blog! I’m attempting to write something regularly for it–walking the line between an exciting behind-the-scenes look at building an ensemble and Too Much Information. I’d be greatly encouraged by any comments you’d like to submit.
And if you’re a WordPress wizard, any suggestions you have for the choice of a template which will allow me to return to the design that Anthony Viot created for me will be welcome!
The conversion to WordPress is also part of a strategy to improve search engine optimization (SEO) for the site, by allowing me to create more content and for that content to be held in a way that search engines can find and index it. You can help, too, by adding links from your site to ours.
Cafe Press Store
Please visit our Cafe Press Store! Our logo is available on t-shirts, mugs, caps and a few more items. The group will make a modest profit off each purchase, but more importantly, if you wear one of our logo items, it will spread the word about the group! Your friends will be instantly jealous!
The Chicago Bass Ensemble
The Chicago Bass Ensemble is a group of my colleagues here in Chicago. And yes, we are all double bass players. We enjoy the opportunity to play challenging and interesting music in a chamber setting, and we look forward to sharing our music with you.
For more information, visit the Chicago Bass Ensemble website.
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