Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music will bring together science, photography, musical composition, performance and philanthropy when they present "Time and the River," on Saturday, April 27, under the baton of composer Kurt Knecht (D.M.A. 2009).
The performance is at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall. Tickets are $15 general and $5 students and are available in advance from the Lied Center Box Office at (402) 472-4747, online at http://www.liedcenter.org/events (enter "lfcm") or at the door.
Nine Glenn Korff School of Music faculty will perform an original work composed by Knecht and inspired by and incorporating visual images from the Platte Basin Timelapse project of photographers Michael Forsberg and Michael Farrell and their team.
The project was devised and begun in early 2011 by conservation photographer Forsberg and photographer-film producer Farrell. More than 60 time-lapse camera systems are in place throughout the 90,000 square-mile Platte River basin, from the Colorado Rockies to the Missouri River on Nebraska's eastern border.
Like chapters in a book, each camera tells one part of the story of the water's roughly 900-mile journey through the heart of North America.
The chamber music is composed by Knecht, an organist, conductor and composer. He emphasizes that the piece is music integrated with the time-lapse images as a single artwork to express the Platte River through performance.
“One of the most interesting things about the piece is that it is not a soundtrack or a film score,” Knecht said. “I spent quite a lot of time on the website of the Platte River Time Lapse website, and I jotted down different ideas that inspired me. I then determined that the best approach would be to do miniatures instead of one large piece. ‘Time and the River’ is comprised of 9 short movements each lasting around 3 or 4 minutes. Once the music was written, Mariah and the team over at the Platte River Timelapse took inspiration from the music to create the videos. The relationship between the two is dialogical rather than subordinate.”
Knecht said the music reflects the diversity of the river.
“I believe that the diversity of music and moods reflects the incredible diversity and beauty of the Platte River,” Knecht said. “I hope that, combined with the video, the work will expose a broader audience to the tremendous beauty that the Platte River has to offer.”
The faculty chamber ensemble includes John Bailey, flute; William McMullen, oboe; Diane Barger, clarinet; Jeffrey McCray, bassoon; Alan Mattingly, horn; David Neely, violin; Clark Potter, viola; Karen Becker, cello; and Hans Sturm, bass.
For more information, visit http://www.lfcm.us.