Michael Kiley's CLOSE MUSIC FOR BODIES to Transform Christ Church Neighborhood House at the Fringe

Bodies and voices resonate together in an immersive performance, Close Music for Bodies, created by multidisciplinary artist Michael Kiley. Transforming Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American St, Philadelphia) into a sonic community, this performance taps the singing voices within us all, connecting us to our transcendent gift of voice from September 20 - 24 in the 2017 Curated Fringe Festival. Tickets are $15-$29 and available at fringearts.com.

No microphones, no electronic meddling, only the resonant voices that come from the bodies of the performers are heard and felt. As tellers of a group story, the ensemble-directed by Rebecca Wright-travels as acoustic sound sources with their precise voicing and movement. Close Music for Bodies is based in Michael Kiley's Personal Resonance voice practice, which focuses on how the act of singing feels in the body. Through an original, epic vocal score created with ensemble this new work encourages each audience member to have agency within their body, culminating in a public act of group voicing. Audiences will travel from witness to student to participant as the performance builds a community that honors each person's unique individual sounds. Premiering during the 2017 Curated Fringe Festival, Close Music for Bodies embraces, challenges, and provokes how people think about the use of voice.

In Close Music for Bodies the audience is arranged about the entire floor of the theater. Singers move in geometric patterns throughout the audience, their movements become the sound design-like placing speakers about a room, only the speakers are mobile performers. Kiley notes that "My history with performing choral music is deeply tied to this work, compositionally and spiritually. Some of my most transcendent experiences occurred while playing a small part in a large group of voices." Sharing parallels between the individual and collective, Close Music for Bodies gathers an eclectic group of Philadelphia and New York performers ranging from in their twenties to their seventies to share space and resonate with audiences.

Close Music for Bodies is presented in promenade, meaning the audience will stand and walk for the duration of the performance. Specialty seating will be available for those who are unable to do so. This show is ADA accessible. Audiences will check their bags and remove their shoes prior to entering the performance.

IF YOU GO:

Curated Fringe Festival presents
Close Music for Bodies
By Michael Kiley

CREATOR Michael Kiley
DIRECTOR Rebecca Wright
CHOREOGRAPHIC MENTOR Faye Driscoll
LIGHTING DESIGN Yi Zhao
COSTUME DESIGN Maiko Matsushima
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Nicole Labadie-Bartz

PERFORMERS: Eppchez!, Cynthia Hopkins, Michael Kiley, Scott McPheeters, Arielle Pina, Martha Stuckey, Michele Tantoco, Brandon Washington, and Sheila Zagar

At Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N. American St
Philadelphia, PA 19106

September 20 @ 7pm
September 21 @ 7pm
September 22 @ 6:30pm
September 23 @ 6pm
September 24 @ 4pm

Tickets ($15-$29) at fringearts.com/event/close-music-for-bodies or by calling the Fringe Box Office at 215.413.1318.

Creator Michael Kiley is a sound designer, composer, performer and educator working in dance, theater and public installation. In 2010, his ensemble, The Mural and The Mint co-created a performance of music and dance, As The Eyes of The Seahorse, with Nichole Canuso Dance Company, presented at HERE Arts Center in New York. In 2013, he released The Empty Air, an iPhone application which uses GPS to trigger composition due the location of the listener inside of Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. Later that year he released a similar application, Animina, for the opening of the new FringeArts performing space. Also in 2013, he composed Kuerner Sounds, a commission from The Brandywine River Museum to be heard during a tour of Kuerner Farm, inspirational home to painter Andrew Wyeth. In 2014, Michael performed, composed and sound designed Thank You For Coming: Attendance for choreographer Faye Driscoll and worked as vocal consultant for luciana achugar's Otro Teatro. Michael has been an artist in residence at The Hacktory, and commissioned by The American Composers Forum and Mural Arts for With Happiness For You, World; a composition using poetry of an immigrant student from Karen State as libretto. He teaches workshops in a voice/movement practice of his own design, Personal Resonance, at The Headlong Performance Institute and various studios.

More on Close Music for Bodies and Personal Resonance can be found at www.michaelkiley.com.

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