The Sonic Garden Party
With the help of sonic artists Bora Yoon & Colin Self, National Sawdust produced an evening of ethereal sounds featuring the use of varying sonic sundries to highlight the unique landscape of the sculptural gardens for their annual Junior Council fundraiser.
This Session was $100 tickets
Total Attendance: 150 // outdoor seating
VIP Preview of The Beekman Hotel
National Sawdust was tasked with producing a special musical moment to awaken and enliven The Beekman Hotel’s newly renovated atrium. The Sawdust Session featured vocals from Helga Davis (Wire Magazine describes as “a powerful vocalist with an almost operatic range”), accompanied by Grammy winning soprano Hila Plitmann, the Young People’s Choir, Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Zeigler, and violinist Siwoo Kim – performing an operatic scene by composer Paola Prestini simultaneously from four different levels of the atrium.
This session was invite only
Total Attendance: 300
River to River
National Sawdust presented a series of free “Ex Situ” concerts in summer 2013-14 in partnership with the River to River Festival and the acoustical engineering firm, ARUP. The Sawdust Scene featured international and national emerging artists and took place in site-specific “found spaces” in Lower Manhattan. All of these events were streamed live on National Sawdust’s website and are hosted on the site for free streaming.
Ex Situ included performances by Norwegian vocalist and performer Maja S.K. Ratjke on July 7, 2013 at Cannon’s Walk, German pianist Hauscka on July 13 at Pier 15, and Anna Clyne’s multimedia release, The Violin on July 9th at Federal Hall.
These Sessions were free to the public Festival Attendance: Average 60-100 per showcase
Jherek Bischoff’s Silent Orchestra
A partnership highlighting Jherek Bischoff’s new album Cistern. The album launch was hosted inside the intimate walls of National Sawdust and then later that week featured in Times Square on electronic orchestral instruments and streaming wireless headphones for a special performance of Times Square Art’s Midnight Moment. To passersby, the ensemble was completely silent; those who had headphones were treated to an orchestral concert in the middle of Times Square. The finale of the concert was synchronized with a screening of Bischoff’s video for “Cistern,” broadcast on numerous screens throughout Times Square.
The session was free to the public, but limited to 400 headphones Total Attendance: 400 // Thousands tuned in via livestream
The Hubble Cantata
The Hubble Cantata is an evening length (60 minutes) live musical performance that pushes the boundaries of art and science by combining a cutting-edge Virtual Reality film (Fistful of Stars) by Eliza McNitt with a space-inspired cantata composed by Paola Prestini with libretto by Royce Vavrek. The World Premiere of The Hubble Cantata reached an audience of over 6,000 at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park on August 6, 2016.
For the first time ever, Virtual Reality becomes an instrument for space exploration, giving audiences the opportunity to float within photorealistic simulations of the iconic Hubble Telescope imagery that has deepened our understanding of the universe. Fusing together science, art, and technology—alongside a 20-piece ensemble, a 100 person choir, and two stars from The Metropolitan Opera all performing live — The Hubble Cantata marks a major milestone in the performing arts.
