(click here for higher resolution video)

On Thursday, May 10th THE_GROOP was a primary sponsor and producer for composer Drew Schnurr’s concert PERSEE: Orchestrated Perception, an innovative mixed-media live concert. Persee was produced by composer Drew Schnurr in collaboration with artists C.E.B. Reas and Michael Chu. This experimental performance brought an audience of over 300 people to downtown Los Angeles and has received significant acclaim for its provocative and inspiring combination of musical and digital mediums. Jose Caballer, the president of THE_GROOP, mentioned that, “it’s remarkable to see such a talented group of individuals all work together in their given fields to create such a beautiful artistic event just for the sake of the art itself.”

If you have any questions or would like more information please visit:
www.persee.net

Downtown Los Angeles, May 10, 2007 – Avant-garde composer Drew Schnurr’s mélange of visual and sound phenomena ripped a thread or two off the king’s robe with a formidable, mixed-media expose of the lies of U.S. presidents on Thursday night at the Regent Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. His experimental Persee: Orchestrated Perception filled the well-attended room with a series of stimulating musical and digital masterpieces. I loved it.

With the third piece of the evening, Drew answers his own question: What is the sound of deceit?- with the clever juxtaposition of repetitive, minimalist flashes of lies on a screen, and methodical bursts of disquieting chords. Like Beethoven himself, he uses volcanic string attacks to challenge the business-as-usual social veneer at the highest socio-political level. Digital media artist Michael Chu was the visual player of the moment, adeptly projecting each of the lie’s words as its melody slid, or thundered, off the instruments. It made me wonder if an audience attuned to the music of deceit might not better recognize the nature of those they wish to lead them before selecting them for positions of power. Or do we hear their music without really listening? Hmmm.

The other two pieces were fascinating in their own ways. I’d never heard Drew before, and was impressed with his chamber ensemble’s melodic and harmonic ebbs and flows. By the end of the first piece I was captivated along with the rest of the audience. And the second piece, accompanied by C.E.B. Reas’s moment-to-moment digital process - which had me feeling like I was witness to the beauty of microbial flowering - was intoxicating. This composer bends and stretches rules within his own aesthetic, weaving his musical ideas in harmonious waves that threaten to drown, yet gently tumble 
the listener forward with intrigue and anticipation.

Review by Adam Rosenthal
freelance writer, poet and songwriter from Redondo Beach,CA


See All Photos

Symphony of Lies is a piece designed for chamber ensemble combined with projected text animation derived from recorded statements of deceit by past American Presidents. Written by composer Drew Schnurr, melodies and rhythms are extracted from the speech inflection of each lie, and are used to create music that represents the psychologically ominous impact of lying. Digital media artist Michael Chu’s visual score accompanies the music, projecting the words connected to each note and melody, generating a powerful visual collage within a minimal asthetic framework. Symphony of Lies extracts the effect lying has on the personal subconscious while concurrently examining it’s effect on society as a whole.

Movement 1 - Nixon
Movement 2 - L.B.J.
Movement 3 - Clinton

Samples to follow…..