M.A.R.S. Festival 2018

About M.A.R.S. Festival 2018: The Multiverse

The multiverse describes a set of theoretically bounded possible universes, most often imagined as parallel worlds. Every observation or measurement gives rise to a fresh, independent universe unlike the one before it. Each universe stands alone, yet all remain linked at every instant. As M.A.R.S. arrives in Los Angeles — itself a multicultural source of energy that endlessly overlaps — one question lingers: which nested strings will meet in our landscape? The answer: all of them.

Festival Program & Schedule

Oct. 5 — Festival Opening: TeleporMartian

The Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021. Featuring the MARS Collective Ensemble and THISPLAY, with commissioned works by four composers: Genoel Lilienstern, Katharina Rosenberger, Ying Wang and Wen Liu. TeleporMartian builds a new world using the latest 3D hologram projections, video mapping, virtual reality and interactive projections alongside live performers, giving audiences access to a singular virtual space. This world is shaped by newly commissioned pieces from four internationally established composers — a pioneering collaboration between composers and technologists that widens the reach of artistic expression and technical innovation.

• Genoel Lilienstern: Big Picture (2018) for Soprano, Ensemble, Electronics and 3D Hologram Projections (World Premiere)
• Ying Wang: Black Hole Big Bang (2018) for Soprano, Ensemble, Electronics, 3D Hologram Projections and Video Mapping (World Premiere)
• Wen Liu / Alexander Hackl: The Echo of Entropy (Sound & Visual Installation) (World Premiere)
• Katharina Rosenberger: In the Dream that I Dreamed, You Awoke (2018) for Soprano, Ensemble, Electronics, 3D Hologram Projections (World Premiere)

MARS Collective: Sara Andon – Flute; Andrew Leonard – Clarinet; Matthew Ennis – Saxophone; Daniel Lawlor – Trombone; Diego Gaeta – Keyboard; Derek Stein – Cello; Laurel Irene – Singer; Amanda Keenan – Singer.

Oct. 6 — Multiverse (Part I)

The Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021. With Jesse Gilbert and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. The pair present an evening of music and image, blending compositions and improvisations inside an immersive setting defined by panoramic projections of audio-reactive visuals that surround both audience and performers. Drawing on years of creative dialogue, the duo explores classical repertoire and Atwood-Ferguson's original works for acoustic viola and electric violin, all fed in real time into Gilbert's visual instrument, SpectralGL, which turns sound into shifting visual landscapes mapped back onto the performance space. This perceptual feedback loop invites the audience to discover alongside the artists, shifting them from passive listeners into co-creators and revealing the mystery and power of music and image to suggest new realities.

Oct. 7 — Multiverse (Part II)

The Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021. With Jesse Gilbert and Quartetto Fantastico: Chris Woods – violin; Paul Cartwright – violin; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – viola; Peter Jacobson – cello. Atwood-Ferguson and Gilbert are joined by Quartetto Fantastico, expanding the circle of musical exploration through a modern string quartet performing at the highest level of improvisation and contemporary composition. The quartet plays inside a cube of light, with translucent projections on all four sides exploring the intuitive and emotional bonds between the musicians through a blend of live camera and abstract animation composed in real time with SpectralGL. This immersive installation lets audiences view the performance from any angle, moving beyond the traditional proscenium to create a fully personalized sound and visual experience. As the inner performance space unfolds and echoes through the overlapping media landscape, a multiverse of individual perspectives emerges, each holding a kernel of the musical moment as it reverberates across space and time.

Oct. 13 — Multiverse Final

The Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90021. M.A.R.S. LA carries this closing scene into a multiverse scenario.

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