Cool Grey City (2017)
Cool Grey City (2017)
Performed by Nomad Session
“Cool Grey City” is a concert series which features a newly commissioned work written by Bay Area composer, Nicolas Benavides, and video showcasing San Francisco's public spaces captured by AJ+ video producer, Maggie Beidelman. This project focuses on the intersection of music and hidden spaces of San Francisco and will be featured in three separate performances. See more info for descriptions.
• More Info
• www.nomadsession.org
Music by Nick Benavides www.nickbenavides.com
Video by Maggie Beidelman www.maggiebe.com
Performance by Nomad Session www.nomadsession.org
Cool Grey City
“Cool Grey City” is a concert series I'm working on with Nomad Session, a San Francisco-based wind octet I'm in residence with this year. The project features live video projections using Max 7. It focuses on the intersection of music and hidden spaces of San Francisco and will be featured in three separate performances throughout the year.
There is a reason the phrase, "I left my heart in San Francisco", exists. Sure - cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf and tiny squares of Ghirardelli Chocolate are all delightful - but are they the reason so many people quote this phrase? What about San Francisco's tucked away stair cases, community gardens, block sized patches of green and that one "quiet spot" with a great view that only a local can lead you to? These are the hidden spaces we are interested in and we believe that there is something more magical waiting to be discovered amidst all the fog.
I would like to, above all else, give the audience a sense of wanderlust. I want people to feel the urge to explore and discover places that are altogether overlooked. We are all so accustomed to online reviews, yelp, and social media that we tend to all go and do the same things rather than carve out our own experiences and find places that nobody ever tells us to visit. It's the thrill of being an explorer.
Created as part of a residency with Nomad Session, I decided to explore my favorite public spaces in San Francisco. San Francisco is unique in that it has hundreds of public parks and gardens ranging in size from Golden Gate Park (bigger than Central Park) to postage stamp sized parks big enough for a single bench. They are hidden throughout the city, and I wanted to take the audience on a day trip with me. The first movement (morning) explores hidden gardens and otherwise curated small parks all over San Francisco. The second movement (midday) explores staircases, which San Francisco is famous far. The third movement (afternoon/evening) explores landscapes with breathtaking views and small parks that are otherwise kept as natural as possible. The mosaic of parks in San Francisco is truly a treasure, and it's one I've been grateful to become acquainted with in the making of this project.