PRESSER FOUNDATION AWARD

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In April of 2011, I was selected by the Director of the Peabody Conservatory as the annual receipt of the Presser Foundation Award. The award delivered $10,500 in support of a multimedia project proposal, which resulted in the commissioning of two new works for classical guitar quartet (by Christopher Gainey and David Smooke), two dance choreographies (by Carol Bartlett and Junichi Fukuda), a video installation (by Caleb Freese) and the creation of a site-specific stage-set of lightbox paintings (by Jonathan Zwi).

These projects were unveiled in a multimedia performance event in May of 2012 at the historic Engineers Club, where the Atlantic Guitar Quartet holds an artist’s residency. The performance event also included the premiere of a composition by Ronald Pearl, also written specifically for AGQ.

In addition to allowing for the creation and performance of these various new works, funds from the Presser Foundation Award also assisted in the completion of the AGQ’s debut album, released in November of 2013.  The debut album included the aforementioned compositions, in addition to works by Olivier Bensa and Arvo Pärt.  I was responsible for the concept, artwork and design of the physical album.  Every element of the project (the commissions, the performances, the album packaging, etc.) was designed to work together as a cumulative process of questioning to address the ways in which concepts of meaning and beauty are constructed.

This multimedia event and the release of its debut album firmly established AGQ as a premiere contemporary classical guitar quartet—the only one of its kind in the region. Moreover, this project synthesized the talents of ten Peabody artists (students, alumni and faculty), thereby further expanding the scope of Peabody's influence on innovative artistry at the highest caliber.
 

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Below are links to documentation of the supported works.

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Interpretations of Eclosion (mvt.II of La Grande Terre by Olivier Bensa)

• Stop-motion video (by Caleb Freese)

• Choreography for two female dancers (by Carol Bartlett)

• Choreography for solo dancer (by Junichi Fukuda, including mvt.I - Mineral)

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AGQ • Debut Album

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Audio Samples

• Meltwater (by Christopher Gainey)

• Topographies 2: (maps and) distortion (by David Smooke)

• Be Not Afeard: Music from Propsero’s Island, mvt.I (by Ronald Pearl)

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CD Case and Booklet

• Booklet Images (with photographic details of lightbox paintings by Jonathan Zwi)

• CD Case Artwork

• Concept and Design (an optional lengthy read that describes the important ways in which the various design elements of the physical album are interrelated, and how their interaction is representative of the larger conceptual theme of constructed meaning)