lab residency Spring & summer 2008

So Percussion/Music for Trains

Vermont Performance Lab, The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Rockingham Arts and Museum Project and the Brattleboro Music Center collaborated to produce a new site-specific work by the group So Percussion in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, Vermont. The planning for the project began in 2007 and the residency took place over the spring and summer 2008 and culminated in two evenings of live performance on the train and in the train depots on August 8 & 9, 2008. This collaboration of “Producing Partners” represents a unique partnership that crosses town lines to combine resources, support artists, reach new audiences and serve various communities.

The Producing Partners commissioned So Percussion to compose an original composition for “Music for Trains.” The development of the new work was also supported through a series of visits and a 4-week residency with So Percussion in Southern Vermont. The piece was inspired by the sights, stories and sounds of Brattleboro and Bellows Falls. “Music for Trains” stretched the concept of art and community by presenting a musical performance outside the walls of a traditional concert hall so it could reach beyond the typical music audience and redefine the notion of concert-going.

The performances took place in the train depots in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls and on the train. The performance experience began when audiences members boarded the train in Brattleboro and continued with live outdoor performances in Bellows Falls and Brattleboro.

During their residency So Percussion held performance workshops, offered a series of free concerts at local farmers markets, Bellows Falls Rail Day and at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, collected and recorded sounds and stories through a Mobile Sound Studio from silver Airstream, conducted instrument making workshops, visited the railroad sites and delved into the rich pictorial imagery of present and past.

To see video clips from the live performances of Music for Trains click here. To learn more about the artists visit the So Percussion Lab Artist page and check out the blog and see photos of the experience visit musicfortrains.com.