MASS (MUSIC, ARCHITECTURE, SIGHT & SOUND)  TO OPEN STUDIO TO MEDIA AND TASTEMAKERS TO PRESENT EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC PIECES IN DEVELOPMENT FOR NEW SHOW "PLANET STRING"

Internationally renowned performance group MASS (Music, Architecture, Sight & Sound), is presenting experimental music pieces in development for their new show "Planet String". Founder Bill Close will open the Los Angeles studio to tastemakers and media and will feature the world's longest stringed instrument, the Earth Harp, the Violin Jacket, the Glowing Drum Orb, and amazing visual projections by VJ Tek (Brien E. Rullman).  The three day open house will be on Friday June 20, Saturday June 21, and Sunday June 22 at 8:30 PM. 

 

 

MASS
(MUSIC, ARCHITECTURE, SIGHT & SOUND)

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PERFORMANCE GROUP’S DYNAMIC BLEND OF SCULPTURE, MUSIC, DANCE AND VISUAL ARTS IS TRULY A GLOBAL PHENOMENON, RIVETING AUDIENCES ACROSS AMERICA AND ASIA AND “STRINGING UP” A FASCINATING ARRAY OF SIGNATURE INSTRUMENTS AT THE COLOSSEUM IN ROME

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MASS’ Latest Recording ‘Planet String,’ Produced By The Group’s Founder And Artistic Director Bill Close, Is An Otherworldly Session Featuring The Vocals Of Chrysta Bell Zucht And The Powerful Sounds Of The Ensemble’s Uniquely Sculpted Instruments, Including The Earth Harp, The Aquatar, Wing Harp, Drub Orb And Drum Clouds

Emotionally compelling, multi-faceted entertainments like Cirque Du Soleil and Blue Man Group have created a worldwide desire for greater and more fascinating musical spectacles, but nothing in the past prepares audiences for the intense magic, beauty and kinetic energy they feel the first time they open their senses to the global phenomenon known as MASS.

Imagine engaging your eyes and ears not only in an otherworldly, multi-sensory blend of sculpture, music, dance and visual arts but also having the sensation of literally being inside an instrument that reaches from a piano-sized chamber onstage to the back of the theatre, the top of a high rise building or across a canyon!

The most famous of MASS’ fascinating creations is the Earth Harp, a large scale, architectural stringed instrument that can be set up in a multitude of environments, directly incorporating the surrounding architecture. The size and sounds of the Earth Harp have captivated audiences both indoors at U.S. locales like The Kennedy Center and the L.A. Natural History Museum and outdoors at venues like the Space Needle in Seattle or the Prudential Building in Boston, where the strings extended 700 feet from the plaza to the top of the building. The Earth Harp holds the record for the Longest Stringed Instrument in the world with strings that have run over 1,000 feet in length.

In 2007, MASS expanded its influence to Asia, transfixing audiences in Hong Kong (where they did a month residency and “strung” a new terminal at the Hong Kong Airport), The Phillippines and Vietnam, where they “strung a temple”—a colloquial way of expressing the notion of creating large scale musical installations. Among their 70 other performances last year was MASS’ first ever appearance at one of Europe’s most famous historic sites, the Colosseum in Rome.

“Beyond the fascinating sounds it creates,” says MASS founder and artistic director Bill Close, “the whole idea of ‘stringing the earth’ is a metaphor whereby we’re keeping the earth in tune, creating music for and inspired by the earth itself. We’re excited about bringing the earth harp and our other instruments to all these different places on the planet, creating a global presence for ourselves and our environmental concerns. We love putting together a very universal entertainment experience that can be enjoyed by anyone on the planet.”

Performing dynamic instrumental and vocal music that draws from classical, rock, ambient, jazz and Latin influences, the multi-talented seven member ensemble--whose name is an acronym for Music, Architecture, Sight & Sound—plays a mix of traditional instruments like harp, percussion and violin in addition to visually and sonically compelling instruments that were created by Bill Close.

In addition to the Earth Harp, your eyes and ears will also be riveted by vibrant, intensely lighted Close creations like Wing Harp (brushed aluminum soprano harps), Drum Orb (a circular percussive instrument that incorporates various drums around a curved metal discoball like sphere), Drum Clouds (a stunning cluster of frame drums), Body Harps (harps physically attached to the performer’s body) and Spinning Drumbrellas (circular versions of the Drum Clouds spun by one performer as another plays the drums). Beyond all of the transcendent melodies and harmonies these create, the heart and soul of MASS comes from the human element of Chrysta Bell Zucht’s soulful, often ethereal vocals.

The Earth Harp and other Closesound instruments are played by the performers using rosin-covered gloves. They run their fingertips along the strings, which help create a resonant, longitudinal vibration that literally pushes the music through the molecules of the string. Close built the first Earth Harp in 2000 and debuted it in Illinois, stretching its strings 1,000 feet over a valley.

That far-reaching approach is the concept behind MASS’ latest recording Planet String, the ensemble’s third after Golden Sun and Nexus and their first in over three years. Offering a culmination of recent tours, Planet String—which was produced by Close and recorded live at Studio Blue Studios in Culver City, CA—keeps the energy and integrity of the live show intact and features on disc, for the first time, MASS’ wide array of original instruments. Close himself plays the harps, percussion and the Aquatar, a three necked axe featuring bass, guitar and sitar; Cameron Morgan also plays Aquatar in addition to conventional guitar.

Making its debut on the Planet String recording project as well as the upcoming Planet String show is Close’s latest innovation, the Violin Jacket—a coat that is covered with eight electric violin components for a fascinating synthesis of fashionable costuming and musical instrument. The Planet String Show, set to debut this spring, is the latest incarnation of the MASS stage show, whose other presentations are MASS Elements and Critical MASS. MASS Elements is a classical oriented program that focuses on the instruments themselves, while Critical MASS is a rock stage show based on physics, i.e. the place where physical matter is transformed into energy.

While studying sculpture, sound design and performance at the Art Institute of Chicago, Bill Close began developing original sonic sculptures that evolved into functioning, fully tunable musical instruments. These instruments grew into multi-worked interactive installations and ultimately into the development of sight specific performance environments. Close's fascination with architecture brought him into the exploration of music and architecture.

Inspired by a quote from legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who once said, “Architecture is frozen music,” Close invented the first Earth Harp in 1999. In addition to the Earth Harp, Close has created hundreds of instruments ranging in size and scope from 3 inches to 1100 feet. Besides the Kennedy Center, other globally recognized organizations that have awarded Close installation and performance commissions include The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Carnegie Melon Science Center, Frank Lloyd Wright's Talieson, Cirque du Soleil and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Close also teaches and lectures about his instruments and installations as well as instrument building and design at universities, schools, museums and performing arts centers including Talieson Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture, Milwaukee Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

“So much of the joy of MASS is about sharing new experiences with the audience that are fresh yet rooted in something familiar,” he says. “There are complex physics behind our live presentations and many details to attend to, but the result is that we get to give them a sense of awe and magic. I love hearing from fans that tell us that they get chills when they first hear the Earth Harp. There’s a real connection being made not only to us but also to the world that the Harp reflects. I personally love developing new instruments and continually finding new and innovative directions for the group. It’s also fun watching these massive productions come together, a process that mixes sport with art. I love that MASS combines so many different and unique aspects of life.”

MASS’ recent performances included an environmental benefit stringing the airplane hangar at Santa Monica airport on February 28; the University of Texas in Tyler, TX on March 4; numerous indoor and outdoor shows for the opening of the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, TX from March 6-9; and a private event in San Diego on March 30.