Toronto, May 6, 2021 – The Amadeus Choir is breaking new ground in the choral do main with two digital projects this spring: an interactive musical web experience and a podcast series combining music and poetry.
“We see the current environment as an opportunity to push ourselves in the digital sphere,” says Artistic Director, Kathleen Allan. “We thought: maybe instead of trying to fit what we do inside the constraints of the pandemic, we should create something totally new.”
Home Comfort Advisor is a large-scale work for socially distanced choir that brings choral performance to a completely interactive online format. Métis composer and me dia artist, Eliot Britton, has created a website that contains the four movements, invit ing listeners to adjust their own experience as they go. The work marries artificial intelli gence, Renaissance polyphonic style, and hyper-produced computer graphics to create a hilarious, poignant, and unique musical experience.
“Machine learning systems are the backbone of Home Comfort Advisor’s text,” says the composer. “The sometimes incomprehensible, humorous, and somehow poignant lyrics are intended to capture the dehumanizing digital stress of 2020/2021.”
Songwalks is a five-part series of sound collages that combine choral music and poet ry. “They’re designed to accompany your walk through the city or countryside, at dawn or at dusk,” says podcast producer and former CBC Radio producer Denise Ball. “They’re the perfect way to leave your screens at home and let your imagination loose as you move through the world around you.”
Music by the Amadeus Choir is paired with spoken word from leading Canadian poets such as Luke Hathaway and Joy Kogawa as well as reflections from members of the Amadeus Choir. Songwalks premieres on May 11th, with new episodes every Tuesday.
DETAILS
Home Comfort Advisor is live now at www.quigital.com.
Songwalks will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and at amadeuschoir.com/songwalks. Episode 1 premieres May 11, 2021.
