DAM Residency, one week down.

My residency at the Denver Art Museum is over one week underway. I’ve installed several projects, had my “open house” for my first piano office hours, had a rehearsal, and my first performance!

The week felt like a whirlwind. But it also seemed less uncertain than the weeks of pre-planning before it. The piano office installation went really well, and there were so many people on hand to help set up harmonicas and pedestals on Level 7 that I felt like such a big shot. Almost 300 people played harmonicas in the first week of their installation, thanks to a busy free Saturday for families.

My favorite elements of the residency so far have been small moments. I saw two children in the American West Gallery looking around to find the source of the water sounds they were hearing (one of my subtle additions to the room, an unmarked sound piece disguised under the sofas).  Several friends and colleagues sent me pictures of themselves playing harmonicas in the galleries. And my piano office was a big hit with school groups—lots of people came by to ask me questions, say hello, record their musical sounds for the “Corridor Voices” project, and even get pictures with me.

The “American West” performance went really well and almost 75 people roamed the galleries and listened to the ambient and folksy performance. There was a technical difficulty with audio recording, but I think the video turned out well. Judging by all the guests recording things on their phones during the performance, they enjoyed the experience, and that’s paramount. The tree branches that were so difficult to get approved for galleries were a big hit, and sounded beautiful in performance. It was a really special atmosphere that’s hard to describe- something a bit lonely, a bit nature-inspired, and a bit ephemeral.

I’m completely humbled by the amount of work and staff it takes to execute these projects. I knew there was a lot of logistics needed, but I didn’t expect this much! Installing electronics for the “Corridor Voices” this past Monday was the most challenging yet, but even it went quite smoothly, and the DAM staff are incredibly nimble and creative with problem solving. There will be a few minor glitches with the speakers and iPods in the piece as I continue to trouble-shoot, but this has been a really good challenge for me to work with technology!

- See more at: http://www.livingresource.org.

Residency planning, budgeting, shuffling, visiting

 My residency at the Denver Art Museum begins in less than two weeks! Almost all of my materials are purchased, but I’m still waiting for a couple last-minute items. The past few weeks of logistics and safety meetings have been a learning experience for me as well, teaching me to build into future budgets a “buffer” for unexpected costs.

There has been much going on behind the scenes leading up to being “officially” working in the galleries. Things that I thought would be relatively simple ideas, like putting harmonicas in the galleries, have actually ended up a bit complicated, dealing with trash cans, pedestal placement, repainting/touching up, and bringing in organic material (in this case some live branches). The museum staff reassures me that this is all part of the process; they’re as new to dealing with these things as I am. Other things which I thought would be relatively complicated, like bringing in a choir’s worth of people for a piece, or having dancers in a gallery, have actually ended up being quite easily navigable.

A few parts of my project have had to be tweaked a bit, mostly due to budget. I don’t think that the pieces I’ll be doing will lose any of their value or quality, but it has been a test of creativity in being flexible!  For ‘ENGI’, I was going to have a large set of bells on several tables. The bells weren’t available in the price points I was looking for, however. I hope that adding other hand percussion to the bells will give the public an even more curious set of instruments to play. For the ‘Corridor Voices’ piece, I originally thought of having a computer processing several channels of voices, which would come from both sides of the hallway. Safety issues prevented speakers from reaching across the floor of the corridor, and I decided to use ipods instead of a laptop in the high-traffic area. This lower-tech option is more stable, concealable, and replaceable if (heaven forbid) broken or stolen.

The Calder Meditation piece evolved slightly from a singing bowl for public use into a set of more durable bells with mallet.

I’ve also learned to go back and visit the galleries often, usually before or after every meeting. The size of the galleries changes in my mind, and it’s surprisingly hard to remember the sense of scale. Little pieces of information (inspiration?) seem to come from repeat visits, like needing a conductor from the ground floor of the Atrium (rather than the second level as envisioned) for the ‘ENGI’ piece. The ground floor is the only area that a leader of a performance can see all levels of the atrium! 

Revising the American West galleries, I found the entire middle gallery now closed for re-install; one must walk in a circle around the floor plan. The space looks physically different and sounds more intimate as well. It reminds me that the museum is a constantly changing and evolving place, and my projects there are evolving with it.

Limited Posts, Abundant Life

This blog has been under-updated for some time now but as technology changes, so does my work!

I've been writing more music articles and reviews for Iceland's English-language newspaper The Grapevine. There was recently a full feature article that I'm quite proud of published, on the Sonic Landscape of Iceland. http://grapevine.is/travel/traveling-on-your-own/2014/10/10/icelands-sonic-landscape/ My face is right there real' big, as I lean in on an iceberg.

You can see my other articles here should you like to read them; it's been wonderfully surprising to be able to use my musical skills for something I love doing- listening to music and talking about it, and listening to Icelandic music just takes the cake.

I'm keeping the blog live for now, and it has some great history in the backlog. But feel free to check out my main website and my Facebook if you'd like up to date projects. I've got some exciting ones in the pipeline, like a piece of Psalm 119 in the original Hebrew--a group composer collaboration. A set of 24 Preludes with the fabulous pianist Rose Lachman, debuting summer 2015; and my first art show, June 2015 in Denver, collaborating with local, national, and international artists.

And speaking of technology, I even have an Instagram account now as well. Life has been full of new things lately and I'm trying them all out. http://instagram.com/thisisnathanhall will get me, sure as the crow flies.

These Things Matter Podcast

I was delighted to be featured as a guest for 'Denver's Best Podcast' These Things Matter. I'm episode 99, just coming in shy of their 100th/2-yr anniversary episode! I talked with hosts Taylor and Kevin about Tori Amos and her influence on my life and music.
I'm also delighted to be visually side-by-side with my formative musical role model, as seen on their website (screen captured below). Thanks Taylor Gonda and Kevin O'Brien for having me on the show! I hope I sound intelligent. (Warning: talk about feminism and the gays and some random NSFW words may ensue).

Take a listen HERE.