immerse! an online event: celebration of vernal equinox and the work of Michael Gerzon

When: Sunday, March 20th, 4:00—5:00 pm CET — equinox moment 4:33 pm CET (see www.worldclock.com for your timezone)

Featuring: Brian Katz, Anna Green, Pat Thomas, Phil Minton, Patty Seaton, Gilad Keren, Monica Bolles, Dan Neafus, Ian McLennan, William David Fastenow, Chris Plunkett, and Timo Bitner

With Special Thanks to:IMERSA, International Planetarium Society, Audio Engineering Society

Produced by:MorrowSound & Park Boulevard Productions with TONSPUR Kunstverein Wien, Vienna, Austria.

Mark your calendars!  On March 20, 2022, Charlie Morrow is launching a new project. The first in a new series of streamed events — part music salon, part community platform — he’ll host presentations and performances from folks working in experimental audio, multidimensional sound, and extended listening. 
The salon follows an annual tradition of its organizers in celebrating the equinoxes and solstices, 1-2 events are pegged around these dates annually. This particular event launches Charlie Morrow’s “immerse! sound light space” podcast crafted with Bart Plantenga.
The salon will feature a few pieces of music, including a world premiere by William David Fastenow, as well as academic updates and conversations related to immersive sound and will honor the ambisonic work of Michael Gerzon.

Vernal Periphony (world premiere) — Performance Notes
Several individuals and small groups throughout the world collaborate on this piece that pegs to both the ambisonic work of Michael Gerzon (particularly his incorporation of the Z/vertical axis, which he calls periphony) as well as the equinox (in which all of the inhabited world is aligned in near identical 12hr days / 12hr nights). The ensemble will play together in real time (despite disperate geography) via an online score and audio routed over the internet. A web streaming player/strategy will allow us to stream to the audience in multichannel audio, on 1-3 audience devices. The pieces will be mixed vertically, along the Z axis. The geographical latitude of each performer/small group is important to the piece, which correlates to both the vertical placement in the mix as well as how active the part is at specific times throughout the piece.
Fastenow asks the audience to stream to three personal devices if possible, placing one on the floor, one up on a high shelf, and the other on their lap or a table in front of them.

Guests and Presenters:
Anna Green – producer Berlin Planetarium & IPS 2024
Brian Katz – acoustician, research director of Sorbonne Universite Acoustics Lab
Chris Plunkett  – Director Operations, AES
Dan Neafus – cofounder Imersa
Gilad Keren – cofounder Waves
Ian McLennan – pioneering planetariums designer
Monica Bolles – composer, sound artist, sound engineer
Patty Seaton – executive secretary IPS 
Pat Thomas – composer, keyboardist
Phil Minton – singer, composer, trumpetist 
Timo Bittner – founder Spatial Media Lab
William David Fastenow – composer, producer, performer
Charlie Morrow (1942) sound artist, composer, conceptualist, performer. Known for chanting & healing works, museum installations, large-scale festival events, radio TV broadcasts, film soundtracks, sound design & jingles, immersive sound patents.

Michael Gerzon (1945 –1996), winner of AES gold medal, is probably best known for his work on Ambisonics and for his work on digital audio. He also made a large number of recordings, many in the field of free improvisation in which he had a particular interest.