BY CAMERON LAM, APRA AMCOS
Composer Jodi Rose’s ambitious Singing Bridges project is an urban sonic sculpture playing the cables of bridges as musical instruments.
Through the sound of vibrations resonating in the architecture, The Global Bridge Symphony connects bridges from around the world.
In 2021, Jodi worked on the composition Signal on the Silver Bridge for the Only Connect, Come What May festival in Norway, where she is also studying Artistic Research in Art & Technology at Trondheim Art Academy. She found innovative ways to adapt her work due to pandemic restrictions.
Jodi received an APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund grant in 2020 in support of The Global Bridge Symphony. And with applications for the 2022 Art Music Fund now open until 16 February, we thought it’d be a great time to ask for her tips on applying, and how the grant helped her project through a challenging time.
Hi Jodi, thanks for the chat! Tell us, what is The Global Bridge Symphony?
It is an evolving composition that connects bridges through their unique sound.
Amplifying vibrations in the cables and listening to their structures brings audiences and bridges together in a shared listening experience.
I imagine the bridges also listening; perhaps their cables are giant receivers, collecting all kinds of signals. What do bridges dream of, I wonder, when they shake free of earthly form and function, to dissolve into the immaterial?
How did the Art Music Fund support your project?
The Art Music Fund gave me time to focus on developing the composition, and learning various technologies to realise the Global Bridge Symphony in new forms.
One of these is a generative music stream made in collaboration with Mubert AI, now also available as an NFT on Rarible.
How has your site-specific work been adapted due to the pandemic?
Due to the pandemic, many cultural events and festivals shifted to online and hybrid formats. I was excited to premiere a new site-specific installation made for the Church of Our Lady at Only Connect, Come What May in Trondheim, commissioned by Bjørnar Habbestad and nyMusikk Festival 2021.
I had planned for the [festival composition Signal on the Silver Bridge, based on bridges’ structural vibrations] to evolve using data sonification and generative music techniques. I continue to work on the composition, exploring new configurations to present the work in public.
During the research process, I made a dramatic shift in focus, testing ideas for generative music and data sonification with the support of NTNU Music Department and Kunstakademiet i Trondheim.
The composition framework exploring the Global Bridge Symphony has crystalised around the understanding that making an immersive listening experience is the essence of the work. However, the tools and methods have changed in response to these artistic explorations.
So how are you building that immersive experience within this context?
I am creating an immersive listening experience that works musically, as a composition for a full dome planetarium; and conceptually, as a ‘global bridge symphony’ with the spatial audio mix.
Having the chance to make a work for the Planetarium at the Science Centre in Trondheim gives me a fantastic opportunity to continue exploring full dome sound spatialisation in physical space. It will be premiered in May 2022.
This iteration explores the concept of the ‘global symphony’ through a composition designed for immersive listening experiences, designed to be heard in physical space — through ambisonic [spatial] sound arrays.
Expanding on the audio composition in future, I will explore graphic notation and visual scores in collaboration with musicians.
Based on the work created for the Planetarium, I am excited to invite new musical interpretations on a graphic bridge score, conducted with live improvisation by experimental musicians and video artists.
Before we go, what’s your top tip for a successful grant application with the Art Music Fund, especially during the current climate?
Have a clear intention of what you wish to achieve, and articulate that as simply as possible.
Dream big, and don’t let the constantly changing cultural landscape deter you from reaching to the stars.
The Art Music Fund offers a vital and unique lifeline for creating music and sound art that may otherwise be neglected or fall through the gaps in commissioning and funding rounds.
Finding ways to build on the innovative and experimental musical forms of the Australian creative community is important to the overall health and wellbeing of society, as we have seen when people turned to art and music to get through the challenging times of the lockdown.
Composers, musicians and artists are here to celebrate the mysteries and beauty of life, and bring joyful experiences of listening to new ears and audiences.
Applications are now open for the APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund. Apply by 16 February for the opportunity to share in a total pool of $55,000 worth of funding for composers.
Images supplied.
Jodi Rose celebrates her 50th Bridge: Hoge Brug, Maastricht (Photo: Jodi Rose)
Rose tests the Bizovik Bridge Cables, Ljubljana (Photo: Luka Prinčič)
Recording Brooklyn Bridge, 2002 (Photo: Jodi Rose)
