Come to this workshop to learn about the virtuosic physicality and mind blowing brain science behind bird song. Attendees will learn how to identify bird song by ear, as well as artistically and creatively respond to select bird recordings. Workshop lead by our current NS 2022-23 resident Andy Jarema.

Topic: Birdsong and Music Workshop

Time: Feb 26, 2023 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86300235822

Meeting ID: 863 0023 5822

One tap mobile

+16694449171,,86300235822# US

+17193594580,,86300235822# US

Dial by your location

+1 669 444 9171 US

+1 719 359 4580 US

+1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)

+1 253 205 0468 US

+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 309 205 3325 US

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 360 209 5623 US

+1 386 347 5053 US

+1 507 473 4847 US

+1 564 217 2000 US

+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

+1 646 931 3860 US

+1 689 278 1000 US

+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

+1 305 224 1968 US

Meeting ID: 863 0023 5822

Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kc7wyma49D

On Monday December 13, 2021 at 10:00am Pacific Time, join us on our YouTube channel for our live Community Guest Artist Discussion Panel. This panel will feature multi-talented artists: Karen Yeh, Sylvie Tran, Gabrielle Valladares, and our very own Co-Creative Director Rodney DuPlessis. You can find bios of our guest artists via our Friends of NS page.

The panel will focus on each artist’s journey and experience that lead them to their respective careers. Founder and artistic director Joanna will moderate the panel and there will be a live Q&A session for audience members to ask the panelists any questions they have.

If you would like to submit questions ahead of time for our panelists, please visit our Contact Us page and fill out the form with a the subject title as “Panel Questions”.

Back in March, NS 2021 Residents located in various parts of the world (US, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Tasmania, etc.) were presented with the theme prompt “Fragile States”.

On Sunday September 12th @ 6pm PDT they will come together to premiere their first projects on the Nomadic Soundsters YouTube Channel. Click here to access the premiere.

All projects are a product of 100% virtual collaboration.

Program Notes

‘Beyond the Curtain’

This work emerged from our investigation of fragile states within and beyond our own lived experiences. We wrote a series of poems and short stories, weaving the characters and ideas into a narrative that relates both to us and to something greater. The spoken words in the work were written by Aine E. Nakamura. This text was inspired by the seasonal and temporal changes experienced in a body in recovery; the poetry acts as a translation of the essential solitude in life; the dream of attaining success and the realization through everyday errands and some pauses. Nakamura, along with Claire Igawa and Christian Preski, created audiovisual material that was edited and arranged by F. C. Zuke. Through this method, we constructed a narrative comprised of our individual stories and ideas. The photographs, videos, music, and sounds used in the work were recorded by group members in Japan and the United States, and their fluidity in travels. The visual aspect of the story is told through a web of branches, abstracted indoor settings, and Nakamura’s performance. An eclectic soundscape of vocal, electric, and acoustic sounds paint the complexity and ambiguity of a dreamstate.

What I wish to attain is

not footsteps

but the slightly red

light

that’s on my feet

I wish to say so

but I can’t

Will the journey itself save me?

The end of the journey

is

here.

Slightly red color

is one of my dreams

I wear my clothes of

red branches

and collect each of the sparkles

and give them to ants

Was it a laboring Nightmare?

I wonder, and

I clean the house.

The sparkles disappeared

or they are today’s

Meal

We would like to thank the Nomadic Soundsters staff for their work in organizing this exhibition and the residency at large. Christian Preski, songwriter for this work, would like to thank his dear friend from Taiwan, Shao Hui, and his late grandmother, “Me-Mom”, for their inspiration and guidance.

“Scrapbook Between Mind and Body”

We have spent the past several months forging connections, building a space of creative play together. Initially setting a collective intention to honor the slowness of process, this intention has taken a more precise shape as a reverence for the wisdom of the child’s mind.

When children play with blocks, they are not bound by visions or expectations of the final results. They simply immerse themselves in the joy of process and potential for constant assembly and reassembly. The following is a gathering of our creations from this time, our blocks, interwoven with recordings of intimate conversations and thoughts about fear, doubt, judgment, vulnerability, unraveling, recovering and healing. These are the common threads that weave through the conversations and creations, but each part may be in itself whole and an encounter leading to wonder.

We present this “scrapbook between mind and body” as a snapshot of the group’s process, one stage of unlearning and reassembly in the process of being Nomadic Soundsters.

Credits:

Braeden Doane, Olenka Kmak, Yifeng Yvonne Yuan, Ben Zucker

Spheres of Grieving: 3 vignettes

In Spheres of Grieving, we explored the concept of grief as an intimate emotional process, unique to the situation and the mourner. 

Each sphere explores an emotional response to grief: the hard, the soft, and the rough. 

In the final iteration of this work, we will encourage viewers to explore each of the forthcoming “spheres” in any order, facilitating their own unique experience of this artwork.

“Ocean”

“Ocean” represents the Blue Team's first long distance collaboration and response to the writing prompt of “fragile states”.

The first music segment of the piece features Yunfei as primary composer, with additional elements added by Tang and Jeremy. The second music segment started with a generative composition provided by Jeremy, and was embellished by Yunfei. The third musical segment features the piece “Lost Letters” by Tang.

The choreographic elements of the piece were inspired primarily by the movement of the ocean, and was created through a series of improvisational explorations. The music inspired and influenced the speed and quality of the movement in the final piece, in addition to the desire to produce three properly distinct experiences for the viewer.

The dance footage and the majority of the ocean footage came courtesy of Sammy, shot on an iPhone. The short transition ocean shot and audio came from Yunfei (also via cell phone). Jeremy combined these with additional original footage of Pennsylvania streams. Video processing, done in Touchdesigner, includes audio reactive elements that determine how/when video clips appear, using an element of randomness (another reflection of fragility).

“(Un)Umbrella the Sky”

“(Un)Umbrella the Sky” Is a video, dance, and fixed audio project by the Orange Group. The work, based on an original song by Christian Preski, explores themes of social justice, ecology, and the loss of indigenous persons' heritage and identity. The video realization of this work includes the manipulation and processing of the choreography and dance of Sammy Gerraty.