Using Multimedia in Your Large Ensemble Concerts
In today’s society, music is increasingly inter- woven with our visual experiences. In an effort to enhance their concerts and appeal to wider audiences, professional ensemblesare blend- ing artistic media. For example, in 2014, the Houston Symphony performed Orbit – an HD Odyssey, which incorporated John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra with NASA images projected on a 24-foot screen (Houston Symphony Orchestra, 2014). The works of Na- tional Geographic photographer Frans Lanting in combination with the music of Philip Glass were premiered with Marin Alsop conduct- ing at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Frans Lanting Studio, 2006). Likewise, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is attracting a new generation of audiences to the symphonic orchestral experience by paring live orchestral performances with clips and full-length mov- ies such as Home Alone (Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 2014).
Through performances like these, multime- dia becomes a platform for arts integration projects, which deepen understandings of the connections between music and other content areas by relating artistic ideas and works with social, cultural and historical contexts (NAfME Anchor Standard 11). The Kennedy Center’s program, Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA), defines arts integration as “stu- dents engaging in a creative process, which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.” In the case of incorporating multimedia with concert programs, two arts disciplines are connected with the purpose of enhancing the artistic expe- rience through both the visual and aural senses. Multi-media projects such as those presented in this article can take place in a wide range of settings and can encompass a variety of activi- ties, from simple to complex. More information on arts integration is available at http://www.
kennedycenter.org/education/ceta/home.html.
For this article, I will describe three ways in
Wendy K. Matthews
which large ensembles can apply the concept of arts integration to incorporate multimedia into their concerts. These projects ranged from the straightforward incorporation of still im- ages, to the use of clay animation, to the more elaborate use of student-designed video. In the first two examples the multimedia component accompanied only one piece in each concert, where as in the final example multimedia was used throughout the concert. These examples may provide creative inspiration for your next concert.
Still Images Accompanying the Music One of the simplest ways to incorporate multimedia is to use PowerPoint slides. In this method, a projectionist adjusts the slides to correspond with the architecture of the music and to match the conductor’s tempo. I used this method when performing The Planets, by Gus- tav Holst, which was illustrated with pictures available from NASA and the Hubble Tele- scope. For this concert, the projectionist (a fac- ulty member from the music department) chose the pictures to create a visual interpretation of The Planets and arranged them in a PowerPoint template that matched the musical form of the piece. Embedding pictures can easily be done by using the PowerPoint insert tab, then, during the concert the projectionist manually transi- tioned from slide to slide to coordinate with specific musical events. This method frees the conductor from the obligation of aligning the music with the slide show during the concert and allows him/her to focus on the musicians and the performance.
When projecting images during a concert it is important to consider stage lighting, the place- ment of the projector, and copyright restric- tions. For the projection to be seen many ven- ues will need the stage lights dimmed and the use of stand lights. Additionally, the placement of the projector needs to be carefully consid- ered, as some performance venues do not have mounted projectors that project from behind the screen or above the performers to prevent
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Instrumental
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