Ombra Musici

Multidisciplinary Collaborations

A media multidisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Dave Collangelo, “OMBRA Musici” took place in the frame of the Portland Winter Light Festival 2019. The central facade of the PSU Library became a canvas for projected silhouettes of four individual faculty from the School of Music and Theater as they each performed a solo work. Spectators passing by and congregating in front of the building heard the music through loudspeakers and saw the moving silhouettes projected on the full height of the building. The work´s Italian title, “Ombra Musici,” or “Musician´s Shadow,” directly references the visual content of the work, connects to the Italian basis for classical music description, and alludes to a shared ephemerality and capacity for augmentation and amplification between shadow play and large-scale projection. The shadow and the music brought scenes that typically happen inside Lincoln Hall on to the façade of the library. This “inside out” concept brought art even closer to the community in what has already become a marquee festival in Portland.

Following up on this project, Ombra Musici II will take place at the Portland Winter Light Festival 2023. It will feature a large-scale performance projection of a violinist on a bridge over a major street, exploring (post)-pandemic artistic performance and a new communal experience with the arts.

The Playlist below features four videos.

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