World Premiere of 16 Pianos in Surround Sound Comes to Des Moines
Composer Nathan Felix Presents an Immersive Classical Music Soundscape Featuring 16 Pianos. Des Moines, IA, March 20,21, 2024
New York, NY, February 05, 2024 -- Mexican-American composer Nathan Felix returns to Drake University to present his new immersive work titled 16 Pianos in Surround Sound in conjunction with the Drake Piano Program and the Anderson Gallery with two performances on Wednesday, March 20 at 7:30 pm and again on Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 pm. This immersive performance will occur in and around the Anderson Gallery (1310 25th St, Des Moines, IA, 50311) allowing the audience to walk amongst the pianos and performers. The soundscape installation will also incorporate the experimental videos of Felix.
Felix, who premiered his immersive opera, The Cadence of Life, with the Drake Opera Program last fall, is known for his guerilla-style approach in presenting classical music in unconventional spaces including work with multiple pianos. In 2016, Felix was featured on PBS and nominated for a Lone Star Emmy for work on his 6-Piano project, in which he restored six pianos for performances around the world. The 6 Piano Project has been commissioned in Austin (2016), San Antonio (2016), Barcelona (2017), Melbourne (2017) and Houston (2019). The task of composing and producing an even larger piano concert is something Felix looks forward to, stating, “The idea of composing for seventeen pianos was initially overwhelming but once I started to put my pencil to paper, I realized there is an opportunity to create cascading sounds of pianos that hasn’t been heard before and I hope to showcase this as a unique experience for the communities at Drake and Des Moines at large.” Felix will strategically place the pianos in a formation that allows the audience to either sit or walk through them as they listen to his new composition filled with lush warm melodies in a minimalistic style.
This unique concert that blurs the bounds of music, installation and performance art is made possible by the Friends of Drake Arts. 16 Pianos in Surround Sound will be performed on Wednesday March 20th at 7:30 pm and Thursday March 21st at 7:30pm by Dr. Nicholas Roth and Drake University students from his piano studio. The ensemble is rounded out with Drake music professors Susan Ihnen, Ling-Yu Hsiao and more. Anderson Gallery Director Lilah Anderson is pleased to collaborate with Felix and the Drake University Music Department again, remarking, “Exposure to cross-disciplinary experiences such as this are vital to sustaining a lively arts community at Drake and to offer our students opportunities that they may not find at other institutions.”
More Information & Interview Requests: contact Nathan Felix
Who: Composer Nathan Felix
What: Premiere of 16 Pianos in Surround Sound
When: Wednesday March 20th at 7:30 pm & Thursday March 21st at 7:30 pm
Where: Anderson Galleries (1310 25th St, Des Moines, IA 50311) at Drake University
Cost: Free w/RSVP
About Nathan Felix:
Nathan Felix (born 1981) is a Mexican-American, music composer known for his immersive operas and experimental films. His music has premiered in Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain, Japan, China, Sweden, Denmark, Mongolia and the United States and his music has been featured on the BBC, MTV, NPR & PBS.
His first large work for orchestra was featured by the BBC and later made into a documentary titled, The Curse & The Symphony. The award- winning documentary screened at 52 film festivals, and was distributed by Gaiam TV. In 2015, PBS featured Felix's 6-Piano Project, in which he restores abandoned pianos to premiere his works written for six pianos and then donates the pianos to lower income schools. 6-Pianos was nominated for a Lone Star Emmy. The 6-Piano Project has since been commissioned in San Antonio (2016), Barcelona (2017) Melbourne (2017) and Houston (2019).
In 2018, Felix was recognized for his “Opera on a Bus” and the “2018 Tobin Prize for Artistic Excellence” for which he premiered his “Headphone Opera” titled, The War Bride at Luminaria Arts Festival.
In 2021, Felix premiered his chamber opera, Ribas-Dominicci, on Texas Public Radio. Ribas-Dominicci, is inspired by the life of Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci, a pilot in the U.S. Air Force who was killed during Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986. In November 2021 Felix released a studio recording of Texas Skies, written for 2-pianos featuring pianist, Timo Andres.
About Anderson Gallery:
The Anderson Gallery is a non-profit exhibition space on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, founded in 1996 to exhibit innovation in art and design and use this to support material-based learning for Drake students and community. Part laboratory, part showcase, the Gallery’s main goal is to promote the growth and understanding of art through exhibitions, programs, and publications.
The purpose of the Anderson Gallery is to advance the educational, cultural, and social mission of Drake University by presenting art exhibitions of aesthetic and intellectual merit to the university community and the public. The gallery serves as a venue for exhibitions by nationally and locally known artists as well as Drake’s art students and faculty.
More information: www.Electrochestral.com
