Monday 13 July 2020

Wide open spaces: Pete M Wyer's iForest installations in the natural landcape



Whilst travel abroad is limited we can still dream, and the British composer Pete M. Wyer has a pair of intriguing projects in America. Responding to the need for social distancing, Wyer has created iForest, two different immersive installations, each involving multiple speakers placed in natural surroundings.

The Sky Beneath our Feet, in Descanso Gardens, 20 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, involves a 72-speaker sound installation featuring singers and musicians performing and hour-long piece by Wyer written specially for Descanso Gardens. And I Walk Towards Myself, at The Russel Wright Design Center, (the estate of the American industrial designer Russel Wright (1904-1976) in Manitoga, Garrison, NY), features the choir The Crossing over 24 speakers performing largely in the indigenous Mohawk language, all framed with views of the Hudson River valley.

You can learn more about Wyer and his music in the podcast New Sounds with John Schaefer. His first iForest immersive installation opened at The Wild Centre in the Adirondacks in 2017, and there have been a number since.

Wyer is a self-taught musician and composer who plays classical guitar and piano, he began touring with rock bands in the 1980s and later went on to give classical guitar recitals. His operas have been performed at Tete a Tete: The Opera Festival, and as part of Opera North's Resonance programme.

Full details from the iForest website


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