From DMA in CONTEMPORARY MUSIC at BGSU
Doctoral Program in Contemporary Music of the College of Musical Arts of Bowling Green State University and the Toledo Museum of Art will present the first EAR|EYE event of the season Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.
The program will be available on the museum’s social media platforms including YouTube.
The virtual presentation will feature the world premiere of “(whispering),” a new work by BGSU alumnus Hong-Da Chin, as paired with Jauma Plensa’s Spiegel, a 2010 sculpture on the grounds of the Toledo Museum of Art. This audio and video realization by students and faculty of the College of Musical Arts is a reflection on events past and present that “we remember, because we cannot forget”— September 11, 2001; Black Lives Matter; COVID-19. The piece is dedicated to the DMA program at BGSU.
“(whispering)” is a spoken-word composition by Hong-Da Chin that draws its inspiration from “A Walk in the Rain” by Chinese poet, Gu Cheng (1956-1993). His abstract work often focuses on nature; beneath the surface, however, are often strong political statements about dictatorship and authoritarianism.
Originally from Kajang, Malaysia, the composer Hong-Da Chin explores multiculturalism and diversity in his music. Growing up in a culturally diverse country, his musical ideas have been influenced by elements from Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnicity.
Jauma Plensa’s sculpture “Spiegel (German for “mirror”) shows two identical giants, hugging their knees and facing one another, though they are technically faceless. They are nearly bodiless as well—these figures are hollow screens given shape by a painted steel latticework made up of letters from eight alphabets: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese, and Chinese.
Audio/Video Realization was done by Michael Laurello and Marilyn Shrude with production by Laurello. The performers are: Claudia Aizaga, Sandra Coursey, Jonathan de Oliveira, Mickey Emch, Nick Fox, Adam Har-zvi, Joshua Heaney, David Munro III, and Katherine Pracht Phares.
Launched in September 2015, EAR|EYE: Listening and Looking – Contemporary Music and Art is a partnership of the Toledo Museum of Art and the Doctoral Program of the College of Musical Arts, Bowling Green State University. The series “explores the relationship between thecvmusic and art of today through performances in front of contemporary works of art . . .intertwining elements of visual and musical literacy in our increasingly multi-sensory world,” according to arTMAtters.
Since its inception, numerous concerts have been staged in the contemporary galleries, as well as the GlasSalon and the Sculpture Garden. These one-hour concerts are purposely designed to be “audience friendly” and are presented in an intimate setting with commentary on the art and music interspersed throughout. The audience, who are drawn from the Toledo community and northwest Ohio, appreciates the juxtaposition of contemporary art and contemporary music as presented by the talented doctoral students of Bowling Green State University. The post-concert dialogue is always enthusiastic with many conversations about unexpected enjoyment of this unique concert experience taking place.
EAR|EYE is an excellent example of community-based learning. The series not only gives a new audience an opportunity to hear unfamiliar works, but also encourages a diverse community to visit the museum and experience art and music in a friendly and less-formal way. Particularly charming is the use of gallery stools for the audience members, so they are not only able to change location depending on the work of art but also be in close proximity to the performers—an opportunity a traditional concert venue would never afford.
For the first five years of its seasons, the series was curated by Marilyn Shrude, College of Musical Arts, Halona Norton-Westbrook, former TMA Director of Collections, and Scott Boberg, former TMA Manager of Programs.
Several of the concerts were purposely staged in conjunction with special exhibitions to bring attention to current issues and social concerns and encourage an examination of how these might be addressed by artists: Jauma Plensa/Human Landscape; Kehinde Wiley/A New Republic; Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists; Global Conversations: Art in Dialogue, and Everything is Rhythm, which was inspired by EAR|EYE.
In 2019 EAR|EYE was awarded the Community Partnership Award from the BGSU Center for Public Impact.
