I have got a remix available on Specta Ciera’s new EP, “Snowflake Collections” (Secret Station Records). Download this FREE album now!
Special thanks to Devin for giving me the opportunity to remix his work and to Secret Station Records for giving this lovely album a proper home.
I recently worked w/New York-based dance company, Palissimo, using some of my Offsets material from earlier this year. Offsets is a long-distance musical collaboration between myself & Scotland-based Dominic Dixon.
Special thanks go to: Pavel, for the opportunity to collaborate; Michelle, for your inspiration and voice; the students of ELS in Washington, DC, for lending their voices; Dominic, for creating the original music together and for allowing me the creative freedom to expand upon our work.
Learn more:
http://www.palissimo.com
http://www.benjamindauer.net
http://www.offsetsmusic.com
Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoy the work.
I recently worked w/New York-based dance company, Palissimo, using some of my Offsets material from earlier this year.
While I finish making the final edits to the composition I contributed to this performance (will post the audio separately, soon), here are the details for the world premiere of Halt!. Special thanks go to: Pavel, for the opportunity to collaborate; Michelle, for your inspiration and voice; the students of ELS in Washington, DC, for lending their voices; Dominic, for creating the original music together and for allowing me the creative freedom to expand upon our work.
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Dance theater company Palissimo gets out of the theater and into the streets this fall with the free site-specific performance installation Halt! at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan.
Choreographed by Pavel Zustiak, the company artistic director and winner of a Princess Grace Award for choreography, Halt! is a performance-driving installation commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council through The September 11th Fund, and coordinated through the New York City Department of Transportation’s Urban Art Program under its Arterventions initiative.
Halt! will be performed by Palissimo inside the Staten Island Ferry’s Lower Manhattan terminal from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, from October 26-30.
Amidst turnstiles and commuters, three stellar performers present a dance performance in accompaniment with a playful and compelling audiovisual component that offers an intentional contrast to the bustling energy of life in lower Manhattan. Halt! draws passers-by into a theatrical arena, reframing their daily commute and inviting them to reconnect with space, time and with each other – an exotic proposition given the virtual reality of today’s online “meeting places.” Halt! features the talents of New York dancers Gina Bashour, Lindsey Dietz Marchant and Jeffrey Jacobs, performing among and engaging with members of the moving public.
Halt!’s set design was created by longtime Palissimo collaborator Nick Vaughan, with sound design also by Zustiak, Benjamin Dauer, Christian Frederickson, Thiago Tiberio and Kevin Keller. The installation includes a “Sound Bar” of headsets that viewers can tune into multiple soundtracks to score the performance and shape how they experience the show. Halt! is an oasis of private contemplations amidst a sea of strangers connected through shared public space.
Photos © Jose Aragon, Richard Termine, Jakub Szyma, Steven Schrieber
Apoidea (Sketch 2) - Benjamin Dauer fea. Michelle Magdalen
For this next track we are focusing our attention on the bees (honey & mason). With the dramatic decline in honey bee populations, there is intensive research going on about the possibility of ‘replacing’ them w/the mason bee. This is not as altruistic as it sounds given that there are huge economic factors at play.
This song explores the quiet anguish of what it might be like to be forced, uncontrollably, into obsolescence.
This sketch (#2) features poetry by Michelle.
For those following along, Michelle and I are working towards a concept benefit album for the pollinators (butterflies, bees, bats, birds). All proceeds from sales will be donated to organizations working to preserve and protect these species.
If this is your first time listening, you can find our first song (Aurelia) for the butterflies here: Aurelia.
As always, thank you for listening and we hope you enjoy the song. Please share.
Apoidea (Sketch 1) - Benjamin Dauer
For this next track we are focusing our attention on the bees (honey & mason). With the dramatic decline in honey bee populations, there is intensive research going on about the possibility of ‘replacing’ them w/the mason bee. This is not as altruistic as it sounds given that there are huge economic factors at play.
This song explores the quiet anguish of what it might be like to be forced, uncontrollably, into obsolescence.
Best listened to in headphones.
I will be recording Michelle’s poetry in the coming week and will post the next sketch then. As always, thank you for listening to our music.
Aurelia - Benjamin Dauer fea. Michelle Magdalen
For those following this blog, I am collaborating with my girl, Michelle Magdalen, on a concept benefit album for the pollinators (butterflies, bees, bats, birds). All proceeds from sales will be donated to organizations working to preserve and protect these species. More details about the album/etc. as they become fully fleshed out.
This sketch (#3) features poetry by Michelle.
Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy it!
Nonpareil (One in Every) - A Modern Dance by the NickWalk Dance Project
This is a score I created for the very talented choreographer/director, Joan Nicholas-Walker, of the NickWalk Dance Project.
I had a great time creating this song and combining electronic elements w/organic elements. She wanted a powerful & rhythmic piece in 4/4 that had a 6/8 waltz section in the middle. What follows is my own creative interpretation…
I hope you enjoy it and thanks for listening!
It’s been posted many times before but it’s worth doing so again. Great collaborative music/spoken word project: in Bb 2.0.
Last Night in Glasgow - This Week
While living in NC I was in this excellent trio, comprised of singer/songwriter Rua, keyboard player/programmer, Joe, and myself on bass. In all we polished nearly 15 solid tunes and hope to finish recording them over time. This track was off our 3 song demo, kofi annan in sweatpants. I miss you guys!
We hope you enjoy the track and thanks for listening.
Learn/hear more: Last Night in Glasgow
Pale Blue Dress - Benjamin Dauer fea. Michelle Magdalen
This is an older tune I wrote that features the lovely poet, Michelle Magdalen, whom I am recording with for the Pollinators concept album I mentioned in another post.
This track is one of about 5 electro-acoustic songs we hope to someday include on an EP of sorts.
Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy!
