Performing Arts Advisory

[Thomas Knab <>]

Dear Colleagues:   FYI:     -- Tom

Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:31:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Red An Orchestra <>
Subject: Red {an orchestra} in 2nd Life
To:

 

 
 

Dear Friends of Red {an orchestra},

You are invited to experience a ground-breaking event. On April 14, 2007, at 8:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time), Red {an orchestra} will be premiering the first ever live digital-simulcast of an American orchestra into the 3D virtual web. In partnership with Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, OneCommunity and the New Media Consortium (Austin, Texas), Red {an orchestra} will perform its concert, That Red Guy, both in Cleveland at the Masonic Auditorium as well as into two sites in Second Life. Second Life is the free online virtual environment that has been gaining international attention as the future of the internet.

This performance heralds the “Grand Opening” of the virtual City of Cleveland and the Case Western Reserve University Campus known as OneCleveland, thereby demonstrating to the world Cleveland’s role as both a “digital city” and great cultural center. This will be the first time ever a live audio/video feed of an American orchestral concert is presented in Second Life and is sure to be of interest to orchestra audiences around the world.

Red {an orchestra} is using this concert experience in Second Life to explore ways of introducing new audiences to Classical Music, an important part of Red’s mission. Second Life has over 5 million inhabitants active worldwide in the site transacting over $1.7 million in real money daily. Many colleges, museums, universities, and corporations have established a presence there for community building, education programs, and collaboration.

What will you experience?
First you need to go to www.redanorchestra.org to learn how to create your own avatar, which is your character in the Second Life virtual world. You will be given instructions on how to get to the OneCleveland or New Media Consortium areas of that virtual world. At 8:00 pm, while Red {an orchestra} performs live at the Masonic Auditorium in Cleveland, you and an audience of other avatars will be seated at eith! ! er OneCleveland or the New Media Consortium campus amphitheatres. Each amphitheatre will feature three screens. The central screen will stream the live performance and the other two screens will show exciting images related to the concert.

The Concert:
That Red Guy has music orchestrated and composed by Red’s Artistic Director and Conductor, Jonathan Sheffer. Red {an orchestra} will present the world premier of Sheffer’s A Red Couch Floating in Lake Erie: A Symphony of Songs. This new work features a libretto written by Cleveland poets and poems written about Cleveland. This is a tribute to Cleveland and is based on poems published by the Poets’ and Writers’ League of Greater Cleveland. The poems include one about Helen Keller experiencing a 1913 blizzard in Cleveland, and one about the only major league baseball player ever hit and killed by a pitch – yes in Cle! ! veland.

The other pieces include the North American premier of Jonathan Sheffer’s Romp: Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra, featuring Anders Paulsson of Sweden, the world-leading classical soprano saxophonist. And, Six Preludes from the Well Tempered Clavier, an orchestral transcription Sheffer composed from Bach’s masterpiece, “The Well Tempered Clavier” will also be performed.

Please Attend:
If you are unable to attend the performance of That Red Guy at the Masonic Auditorium, we invite you to join us in Second Life. For your convenience go to www.redanorchestra.org or open the attachment for full instructions on the how-to’s of Second Life. We suggest you take time to get acquainted with Second Life at least a day in advance of the performance so that your Red experience will be as rewarding as it would be live. We look for! ! ward to seeing you, either in Real Life or in Second Life for the experience of “your life”.

Seating at the Seating at the site is limited. Entry to the Red {an orchestra} performance in Second Life is based on a “first-come” bases.

When: April 14, 2007, 8:00 PM
Where: Second Life OneCleveland Campus (Go to www.redanorchestra.org to register and get instructions on how to participate)
Where: Masonic Auditorium; Cleveland, Ohio

• Tickets are priced from $15-$65
• Available online at www.redanorchestra.org
• Or by phoning 216.361.1733

RED’s performance in Second Life is made possible by a generous grant fr! ! om the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and with support from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, the New Media Consortium, OneCommunity, Leonard Steinbach Cultural Technology Strategies, MediaAffect.com, JaredJared.com, and the musicians of Red {an orchestra}.

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