- Events and Participants

The MANDE SYMPHONY, an interactive multimedia performance for voice, African harp (kora), string quartet, film and superDraw, tells the legendary story of a Mande griot, Kimintang Cissoko, from the time he prayed that he could help alleviate the suffering of the Mande people; through his encounters with African spirits and genies that ultimately led him to create the very first kora - Africa's lute-harp.

Mandinka is a tonal language, which is ideal for musical adaption. The tonal sound provides a base for a notated, rhythmic sound that provokes improvisational passages from the orchestra.

During the performance, sampled speech and music are sent to a computer where a computer artist modulates their effect on stunning visuals from West Africa - all in real- time. With superDraw, visualist Joshue Ott creates a carefully crafted dialectic between the aural and visual experience and the artistic intention is to evoke some sense of the powerful African spirit underlying the Kimintang story in a way that makes it accessible and powerful to a Western audience.

Mande Symphony was commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts and was made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Sponsorship was provided by the New York Foundation for the Arts.

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Sunday

Sep252011

Live-Wired / AUDIO VISUAL MEDITATION / September 25th / 9PM

CultureHub Live-Wired Series / AUDIO VISUAL MEDITATIONS

September 25 / 9PM

47 Great Jones Street/3rd Floor

New York / New York 10012

On 9.25.11, Master musicians in both New York City and South Korea performed togethether via telepresence, sharing compositions and fusing disparate traditions. The performance was followed by a Q & A, linking artists and audiences in both locations.

Musicians:

NEW YORK / Steve Gorn (Bansuri), Yukio Tsuji (Guitar, Percussion), Kang Eun-il (Haegum)

KOREA / Ralph Samuelson (Shakuhachi), Kim Young-dong (DaeGeum)

Dancer:

KOREA / Park Sook-ja

This event session was made possible by the Seoul Insititute of the Arts and shared via telepresence with a live audience in Korea. To watch the recorded live feeds please click on the links below.

CultureHub / New York Feed

SeoulArts / Korea Feed

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