The IMMERSE project
360-degree video projections morph and change in response to live performances of classical and electronic music in IMMERSE. This new collaborative project was created for the UTS Data Arena, an interactive audiovisual space.
Solo works by J.S. Bach, Benjamin Britten and Brett Dean are performed by cellist Thomas Rann and violist James Wannan, alongside new electronic works by Robert Sazdov, and a new electroacoustic trio work by Felicity Wilcox commissioned especially for this ground-breaking collaborative project.
Each musical work prompts projections of distinct visual worlds that increase in complexity and intensity, created by interaction designers Matt Hughes, Adam Bursill and Jaime Garcia. The visuals change in response to the sound and performance, culminating in full immersion into a unique world of sound, music and colour.
Background
The IMMERSE project draws on the specialized knowledge and prior research of researchers from the Music and Sound Design (FASS) and Interaction Design (FEIT) disciplines at UTS. Based on popular perceptions, chamber music is a rarified art form, targeted to educated audiences, that caters to an exclusive demographic. The APQ and the researchers involved in this project are intent on developing more inclusive approaches to classical musical performance that engage new audiences and communicate via new modes of expression.
Aims
IMMERSE incorporates acoustic and electronic music, immersive audio and interactive audiovisual elements customized to UTS’s Data Arena to explore how innovative frameworks for interactive performance facilitate greater immersion and inclusion for performers and audiences of diverse backgrounds. Specifically, the work aims to extend the usual reach of chamber music and electronic music performance into a more inclusive format, that caters to performers and audiences with disability, as well as audiences of diverse ages, gender, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Team
IMMERSE is a collaboration between the UTS School of Software, Interaction Design; the School of Communication, Music and Sound Design; and UTS ensemble-in-residence Australia Piano Quartet (APQ).
- Original Concept Australia Piano Quartet (Thomas Rann and James Wannan) and Dr Felicity Wilcox
- Tech Lead/Project Manager Dr Jaime Garcia
- Production Manager Melissa Cannon
- Composer/Sound Design Lead Dr Felicity Wilcox
- Composer/Spatialisation Dr Robert Sazdov
- Viola James Wannan
- Cello Thomas Rann
- Electronic Music Performer Alexandra Spence
- Visual/Interaction Designer Matthew Hughes
- Sound Engineer/Programmer Martin Peploe
- Software Engineer/Programmer Adam Bursil
- Interaction Design Assistant Philip Johan Aubert