Deep Listening: Rhythms, Vibrations & Voices from the Ross Ice Shelf
Deep Listening: Rhythms, Vibrations & Voices from the Ross Ice Shelf features Ash Eliza Smith, Yuka Murakami, Glenn McClure, and Peter Bromirski. Last winter, composer Glenn McClure joined a 40-day expedition to Antarctica led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher Peter Bromirski. There, they retrieved a series of seismometers that were previously buried in the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest in Antarctica at 500 miles wide. While at the field camp in Antarctica, McClure also made field recordings of environmental sounds (e.g., the sound of footsteps on packed snow), and the sounds will accompany the performance of the converted seismic data.
The event will include live performance and pre-recorded material generated from the field expedition. The multimedia work’s musical score and audio samples will be accompanied by video and still images for projection during the live performance. This will deepen the public experience of the Ross Ice Shelf and increase the public’s knowledge of the scientific work.
The audio component will feature McClure’s data-driven musical sketches and field recordings which form the foundation of a new orchestral work and musical narrative that transport wave vibrations into frequencies within the range of human hearing. While McClure works on converting seismic data to symphonic “music in the ice,” collaborators Yuka Murakami and Ash Eliza Smith are designing and directing visual components for the live performance. Murakami develops new-media programs at the Birch Aquarium, where Smith is a Fellow. Smith also directs the Art and Technology program in UC San Diego’s undergraduate Sixth College.