This February, the walls of Audium Theater will come alive with a chorus of empowerment, connection and loss as New Voices IV takes flight. Known as the world’s only “theater of sound,” Audium’s latest sound residency series highlights the emotionally rich and powerfully resonant works of three Bay Area artists: Briana Marela, Phillip Laurent, and Shanti Lalita.
Each artist harnesses Audium’s unique 176-speaker environment to craft their show, taking audiences on a journey that is as intimate as it is expansive. From reflections on grief and language, to dynamic explorations of space and perspective, to sensory investigations of marginalized bodies, New Voices IV invites audiences to experience sound in ways that are both visceral and profoundly human.
Briana Marela: Qué Pena- A series of vignettes exploring Marela's grief and identity in a vulnerable and intimate way, Qué Pena is crafted with a Buchla Music Easel synthesizer, live vocal performance, and text. The piece explores the complexity of grieving her father’s death in relation to her sorrow of not having gained fluency in Spanish. Her struggle and desire to continue learning a language, intertwined with her own shame and familial trauma, is laid bare. Qué Pena invites audiences to explore and attempt to heal parts of their own inner worlds that keep us from living to our full potential, by being witness to Marela’s own exploration.
Phillip Laurent: Remote Viewing- Embracing music as an augmentation of the visual act, Remote Viewing uses site specific composition to explore themes of distance, perspective, and the qualities of place that are perceived between the senses. Featuring an ensemble of Zekarias Thompson (Alto Sax), Benjamin Rodgers (Cello), Herb Diamant (Flute, Soprano Sax, Bassoon) and Laurent himself on pipe organ and synthesizer, Remote Viewing considers how space can be “measured in possibilities.”
Shanti Lalita: Sense/less- Sense/less is a multimedia, multi-sensory experience confronting the societal relationship to marginalized bodies. Incorporating sounds of the rainforest, electric cello, spoken word, and improvisation, Lalita’s work delves into themes of xenophobia, resistance, and the artist’s struggles with food, body image, and visibility. Through structured improvisation and layered soundscapes, Sense/less challenges the audience to reflect on the standards in which we hold other bodies/beings, and to be present with ourselves.
Cost: $20-30