Proteus (2009)

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Proteus
Proteus is a musical rendition of author Nick Flynn’s selected texts and excerpts from his newly released book, “The Ticking Is The Bomb”.
Music composed by: Guy Barash

Instrumentation: tenor, soprano, clarinet, violin, electric guitar, electric bass, drums, electric keyboard, percussion, and real time digital signal processing

Duration: 50 minutes

Text: Nick Flynn

Video projections: Jared Handelsman & Brendan Byrne

Preview (Excerpts): December 2009, The Frederick Loewe Theatre at NYU, NYC

World Premiere: February 17, 2010, Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn NY
Andrew Struck-Marcell (voice and keyboard), Christopher Bush (clarinet), Joey Wilgenbusch (voice), Alex Kurland (drums), Jent LaPalm (bass), Michael Harlen (guitar), Erin Heisel (voice), Kae Reed (percussion), Irene Fitzgerald-Cherry (violin), Guy Barash (computer).

Other Performances:
May 21, 2010, The Tank, NYC
Andrew Struck-Marcell (voice), Carol Minor (keyboard), Christopher Bush (clarinet), Joey Wilgenbusch (voice), Alex Kurland (drums), Jent LaPalm (bass), Emilio Tostado (guitar), Erin Heisel (voice), Kae Reed (percussion), Irene Fitzgerald-Cherry (violin), Guy Barash (computer).

Composer Note:
Proteus, by composer Guy Barash, is a musical rendition of author Nick Flynn’s selected texts and excerpts from his newly released book, “The Ticking Is The Bomb”. Proteus is an experimental music work incorporating multiple singers, a rock band, clarinet, violin, percussion and interactive electronics.

In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god. He can foretell the future, but will change his shape to avoid having to; he will answer only to someone who is capable of capturing him. In this project, Proteus’ monologue plays the role of the narrator. Seven Testimonies for male voice, rock band and interactive electronics are the Greek chorus. They are based on fragments from testimonies of Iraqi detainees. Imagination for female voice and percussion explores the central theme of the work. TalkBack I for clarinet and computer, Synctax for female voice, percussion, and computer, and Talkback II for violin and computer serve as instrumental ritornellos.

Performers: Andrew Struck-Marcell (voice & keyboard), Christopher Bush (clarinet), Joey Wilgenbusch (voice), Alex Kurland (drums), Jent LaPalm (bass), Michael Harlen (guitar), Erin Heisel (voice), Kae Reed (percussion), Irene Fitzgerald-Cherry (violin), Guy Barash (computer)