Eric Whitacre Concert
SceniC Concept - Choir and dance - 2018
1/4" Scale Model Photos
The Eric Whitacre Choir and Dance Concert is a theoretical production of four Eric Whitacre's (a famous modern composer's) pieces. These pieces include Cloudburst, Water Night, Little Birds, and Lux Arumque respectively. The songs are added under the hand drawn inspirational sketches below.
Auditory Inspiration
Cloudburst
This piece emulated the emotions of a slow building and welcomed suspense in the form of the setting sun and a rain cloud that burst overhead. The buzzing energy of the sun builds until it ultimately gives way to the night flooding in.
Water Night
After the rains from Cloudburst, I imagined an impossible feat. The desert being sent entirely underwater, flooded with a stillness and a silence. Eventually towards the end of the piece, I imagined a thousand stars appearing in the deep blue causing the water to just suddenly disappear and night to take the place of the stillness.
Little Birds
As soon as the stars in the sky appear, they all sweep into a beautiful undulating mass of stars that eventually settle on an old gnarled desert tree, like birds. They sing their hypnotic and haunting song only to fly off into the night sky again.
Lux Arumque
Finally it is daybreak, as old as time and beautiful each day. It fills the desert with heat, warmth, and life.
ResearcH Influence
Cloudburst
Cloudburst inspired the whole layout of the set, the desert with the mountain range in the distance.
Water night
Water Night influenced the need for a translucent cyc so that it could swiftly give way to rainfall and have a surface to which the stars can be projected on.
Little Birds
Little Birds brought about such strong imagery of a tree where they can land that it had to be added. Research was found to support the gnarled trees of the desert and a model piece was created.
Lux Arumque
Lux Arumque was the piece that felt different from the rest, almost like an ancient melody that had always existed. The need to show a physical form of the past manifested itself in the risers for the choir being given structure through decrepit archways and ancient tiles of many colors adorning the floor.
Model Pieces
All of the model pieces were hand designed and painted. Construction of the archway structures was aided through using partial 3D printed pieces alongside hand crafted pieces.
Draftings
A ground plan and section were created in AutoCAD to detail placement of major props and blocking.