Live Performances
Music. Dance. Theatre
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Shards is an audiovisual performance of Philip Glass’ first book of Études for Piano. The recital incorporates ten pieces of music accompanied by animation both performed live on stage. The moving images projected on a circular screen, act as the sole illumination source of the concert hall. An audiovisual instrument that turns music into light.
Shards could only exist through the dialogue of the two performers; One compliments the other and cannot exist without the other. The animations light up the stage and only through them the audience can see the performers.
In the past composers often created new instruments for the music they imagined. Similarly, the visuals are generated using custom software and dedicated hardware designed το allow for a responsive visual experience. The visual performer transduces the musical performance into a dynamically evolving visual piece.
A unique composer – a unique musical work: Glass’ Etudes for Piano, Book I is a kaleidoscopic collection of pieces: ten self-contained compositions, evoking ten different feelings, using diverse structural schemes. Glass’ powerful dramatic drive, his lyricism and his minimalist repetitions create a sense of controlling the flow of time.
These elements turn Glass’ music into the perfect canvas for visualizing sentiments, and unleashing their storytelling potential. Just as the Études were composed to explore a variety of tempi, textures, and piano techniques, equally the visuals are designed as a series of studies exploring forms, color palettes and dynamically generated motions. Εvolving from, and emphasizing the characteristic structure of each composition, the animation aspire to further enhance the unique emotions of each individual Étude.
Shards stands as evidence that there is a lot to be discovered when music and visuals are studied alongside.
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A Phormigx and EmptyFilm co-production
Piano: Nikolaos Laaris
Animation & Live Visuals: Georgios Cherouvim
Director & Producer: Dimitris Delinikolas
Art Director: Giorgos Georgiou
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contact@shards-performance.art
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