Suite Sandy Boulevard

Suite Sandy Boulevard is an experimental concert which takes NE Sandy Boulevard (specifically between 57th and 82nd Avenues) as its theme. Suite Sandy Boulevard features dances inspired by early morning leaf-blowers, operatic vocals (using billboards as lyrics) and guessing-games featuring iconic NE Sandy Boulevard storefronts.

The Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon

2015

high crash	Seattle Art Museum Press Release
smiles on sandy	High Crash Corridor: Movement 4
Kims Game Kreated	billboard duet
kims kreations	7am Blows
Movement 1: Ordinario	7am blows
7am Blows	High Crash Corridor
The Billboard Duet	Kims Game Kreated
Suite Sandy Program Notes

Billboard Duet.

The melody of Delibe’s “Flower Duet” from the Opera Lakme is woven together with a year’s worth of text from billboard 089362 and billboard 089363, which are situated on NE Sandy Boulevard. Like the flower-gathering maidens Lakme and Mallika, billboard 089362 and billboard 089363 sing by the stream of traffic, unaware of what they are really communicating.

Performed by AmyJo McCarville and Emily Windler.

Written score (a threnody) using the Portland Bureau of Transportation NE Sandy Boulevard High Crash Corridor report. The piece is to be played on broken and chipped cymbals, including crash cymbals. Each percussionist is given the number and type of crashes they represent, and the time scale they have to present those crashes. Piece is followed with a respectful silence.

Performed by Aiyana Cunningham, AmyJo MacCarville, Gage Reeves, Derek Smith and Emily Windler.

Kims Game Kreated.

Based on the concept of Kim’s Game (invented by Rudyard Kipling in the book Kim), in this piece the ensemble have instructions to look carefully at the presented images (of Kims Kreations storefront) and then “spot the difference”. The last person to “spot the difference” rings the shop counter bell, then the next image appears. You can only play well if you work hard to see what is right in front of you.

Performed by Aiyana Cunningham, Kari Jensen, Gage Reeves, Derek Smith, Toby Lawrence.

Smiles On Sandy. Transposing the lanes on a road into the lines of a musical staff, so the passing traffic scores the piece which is played by a pianist. The pianist watches a video feed of the road to see how the score unfolds, Performed by Finn Peck.

7am Blows. A piece for two dancers, one percussionist and one leaf-blower operator. The 7am wake-up call of the leaf-blower takes the performers through a gamut of emotions, but one notion is predominant - that 7am blows. Performed by Kari Jensen and Toby Lawrence.

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