Aura Blackstar: Bowie Cello Symphonic Visualized

Maya Beiser, cello
Evan Ziporyn, concept and arrangement
With special guest appearance by PUBLIQuartet

Radical cellist Maya Beiser will debut her immersive performance of Aura Blackstar: Bowie Cello Symphonic Visualized in New York City on January 10 at 8PM at the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place.  The event is a live presentation of Beiser’s forthcoming Bowie Cello Symphonic: Blackstar (Islandia Music Records), a dramatic track-by-track reimagining of David Bowie’s final album.  The album release and performance will take place on January 10 to honor David Bowie’s passing on the same date, four years ago.  The performance is free and open to the public.

Aura Blackstar: Bowie Cello Symphonic Visualized is an immersive concert and visual experience created especially for Beiser, featuring animated projections that flood the floor around her and directly onto her cello, reacting in real time to the sound emanating from Beiser’s cello and the orchestral tracks she’s performing to.  New technology was created for the performance, using virtual reality spatial sensors and a software mapping system that “sticks” the imagery onto Beiser’s cello even as it moves.

Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix Music, the makers of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games, commissioned the art collective Secret Portal, a Boston-based group exploring the use of immersive technologies in public spaces, to create this special visual presentation.

On the highly anticipated Bowie Cello Symphonic: Blackstar, Beiser dramatically invokes Bowie’s words, melodies and energy.  The interpretation of Bowie’s final album was arranged and conducted by Evan Ziporyn and features the 30-piece Ambient Orchestra.  Beiser has triumphed in performances of Blackstar, with a full symphony in Barcelona, at Central Park Summerstage with Ensemble LPR, and in Australia.  “Lazarus” is the lead track from the album and will be released on December 13.

Maya Beiser has been a featured performer on the world’s most prestigious stages and has collaborated with many great artists including Philip Glass, Brian Eno, and Steve Reich. Beiser consistently tops critics’ “best of” lists for her multi-media productions and is currently in the midst of a 20 city international tour for her landmark work THE DAY with dancer Wendy Whelan and legendary choreographer Lucinda Childs.

Dave Cook, Sound Design
Alex Rigopulos, Executive Producer 
Mike Mandel, Tech Lead 
Sam Perzanowski, Visuals Lead 
Dare Matheson, Visuals 

Above photo courtesy of Sachyn Mital