The Oliveros Response Project Brings Together Short Films, Mindfulness, Classical Music and Historical Buildings.
The Response Project, a Cincinnati-based music initiative focused on commissioning new works, premieres its fourth iteration, The Oliveros Response Project, virtually via livestream Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28.
PICTURED: Music professor and dynamic pianist Brianna Matzke will perform as part of The Response Project in January.
Founded by concert pianist Dr. Brianna Matzke, assistant professor of music at Wilmington College, in 2014, The Response Project has commissioned more than 50 new works to date and collaborated with several local artistic organizations, including the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center and the Mini Microcinema.
The Oliveros Response Project features four short films that bring viewers up-close-and-personal with mindfulness and classical music, in the context of some of Cincinnati’s most fascinating historical buildings. Each film features original commissioned music and performances from both Matzke and musicians from concert:nova, a Cincinnati classical music chamber ensemble.
The works respond to American composer Pauline Oliveros' compositions titled Sonic Meditations. Oliveros, a notable composer who coined the term “deep listening,” believed that awareness of one’s entire surroundings contributed to the musical experience.
The films explore the unique spaces in which they were recorded, all of which are currently not open to the public, inviting audience members to experience the unique architectural acoustics and history of each location.
“The locations help create the soundscape as much as the performers themselves,” Matzke said. “We wanted to bring audiences to these buildings, but when the pandemic struck, we shifted to films, ultimately bringing them to the audience.”
Locations include the Imperial Theatre (originally a vaudeville house) in the Mohawk District of Over The Rhine, the brewery tunnels under the Christian Moerlein Malthouse and the towering and beautiful Emery Theatre in downtown Cincinnati.
Matzke serves as executive producer for the films, alongside producer Andy Gasper, Emmy Award-winning director Biz Young and award-winning audio engineer Jason Nix. Each film also features a meditation led by Troy Bronsink of The Hive, a mindfulness center in Northside, and historical information provided by the Cincinnati Preservation Collective.
The films will be live streamed every Thursday in January at 7:30 p.m. EST, one per week, online for free on concert:nova's website, <www.concertnova.com>,and on The Response Project's Facebook page. Each film livestream will be followed by a discussion on Zoom between audience members and the project creators, musicians and artists.
The fourth and final film, created in the stunning and historic Emery Theater of downtown Cincinnati, will be an hour-long concert featuring five newly composed works for piano and percussion, featuring Matzke on piano and Chris Graham of New York City on percussion. Composers of these works have Cincinnati connections and include Nate May, Evan Williams, Jason Charney, Charles Peck and Tina Tallon.
Matzke enlisted local artist Katie Baker to curate a complementary visual art response for The Oliveros Response Project. The art show will be held at The Welcome Project in Camp Washington, Jan. 9 through Feb. 27, with showings Wednesday through Saturdays, from 11a.m. to 6 p.m., and will also be available to view online at theresponseproject.org. Featured visual artists include Joomi Chung, Christian Schmit, Samantha Parker Salazar, Samantha Haring and Ryan Strochinsky.
The Oliveros Response Project has been made possible through generous support from the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, the William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and the Johnstone Foundation (Columbus, Ohio).
For more information and livestream details, visit www.theresponseproject.org/oliveros-project.
