Unweathered Embers at St. Mark’s Lutheran

Orchestrated and composed by Myrmyr featuring 15 Bay Area vocalists and acoustic musicians

Green Sound takes you inside hallowed grounds exploring the magnificent beauty and resonance of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Unweathered Embers explore the acoustics of the architecture with 15 Bay Area vocalists and acoustic musicians featuring the orchestrations and compositions of the haunting Baltic folk-inspired chamber sounds of Myrmyr (Marielle Jakobsons – violin/voice, Agnes Szelag – cello/voice). The all-acoustic musical event creates a uniquely spatial and dynamic performance without power or amplification. This magical performance in this Romanesque Revival building, built in 1895 and designed by architect Henry Geilfuss, utilizes the architecture and movement within it, and features voices, bells, percussion and other instruments for strange acoustical properties and long reverberations. Clusters of performers surround audiences in different areas and nooks, some even hidden from view, creating a reverberant other-worldly sound that will change as the audience members move through the space.

Performers include Alee Karim (baritone, resonator guitar), Ben Bracken (tenor, bells), Caroline Penwarden (mezzo-soprano, accordion, singing bowls), Damon Waitkus (tenor, dulcimer), Jason Hoopes (baritone, upright bass), Jennifer Harper (alto, glockenspiel), Jon Porras (tenor, guitar), Kate McLoughlin (alto, bassoon), Lisa McGee (soprano, harmonium), M Mara-Ann (alto, mbira), Michael Elrod (tenor, symphonic gong), Sarah Elena Palmer (mezzo-soprano, guitar), Shayna Dunkelman (marimba), Suki O’Kane (bass drum, orff instrument), Tom Duff (bass voice), Vanessa Beggs (soprano, guitar)

Myrmyr is Marielle Jakobsons & Agnes Szelag from Oakland, CA. They first began to perform together in 2004 while pursuing their MFA’s at Mills College, combining improvisation with creative electronics and experimental song forms. Since then they have performed at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival and Project Soundwave Festival, and toured across the West Coast and North Eastern USA. With the violin and cello as their basis, the duo creates an intimate chamber music atmosphere, augmented by live electronics, sampling, and an arsenal of instruments including ocean harp, voices, psaltery, harp, glockenspiel, bass. myrmyr’s debut album, The Amber Sea entwines folk, improvised, and electronic music into songs inspired by Agnes & Marielle’s common Baltic roots. Featuring many Bay Area musicians, many tracks exhibit the highly collaborative nature of myrmyr’s work. Released by Digitalis Recordings in October 2009, the album has been hailed as “one of the most unique and absorbing albums we’ve heard this year” by Boomkat Music.
www.myrmyr.net
http://www.myspace.com/myrmyr