Music in the Trees

Location: MN — Twin Cities Metro
Type: RFP / RFQs
Categories:
Music

Deadline: 05/03/2024

Apply

Music in the Trees
Call for Adventurous Musicians
DATE: August 17-18, 2023
TIME: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm each day Musicians in trees
LOCATION: Belwin’s Red Pine Grove on Belwin’s Education Site next to the Hilltop Classroom
PERFORMANCE SETS: Tree Stand Ensembles will play between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm on a rotating basis. Each ensemble will play either one or two, 50-minute sets.

Belwin Conservancy is looking for four duets (or solos) with strong improvisational skills to perform from tree hunting stands (16’ high, individual seats attached to trees within Belwin’s seven-acre, red pine grove). Open to vocalists, instrumentalists, body percussionists, and all combinations. Through music in communion with the sounds of the forest, we will create community with the land and with one another.

GOALS
1. Provide a setting for musicians to work surrounded by and with nature.
2. Expand audience learning and understanding of music/sound through performances that feature natural sounds.
3. Create an event featuring musicians from diverse communities.
4. Foster a fun, creative, and curious exploration of ecology for youth and adults.
5. Create a sensory-friendly experience where diverse audiences can participate.
6. Create an aesthetically beautiful event to match the complex beauty of the grove.
7. Create a welcoming atmosphere where audiences and performers from diverse cultures feel connected to one another and to nature.

Requirements:
• Must be “attuned” to nature and willing to improvise with surrounding natural sounds.
• Must meet with event’s music director Susan Haugh in May/June to discuss music and practice playing in the trees – bring your ideas to the meeting!
• Must be comfortable playing in sun or rain. Must be comfortable with heights.

TIMELINE
April 5 – Call for musicians sent out
May 3 – Interest expressed via email to amanda.hanlon@belwin.org AND susan.haugh@belwin.org subject line “Music in the Trees”
May 8 – Musicians chosen and notified
May 20 – June 14 – Meetings with Susan and site visits with Amanda Hanlon and Susan Haugh
August 1st -14th Open for rehearsals on site in tree stands
August 17th-18th EVENT

Expression of interest – DUE May 3, 2023