Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
In the middle of a Mckellar forest, a woman in a straw hat gently sways to the tunes of a cello. In the middle of the same forest the cellist, staring at a small square of twisting, intertwining shapes of clashing oil colours, gradually increases the pace of her tune. Around her, larger paintings of similar twisting shapes – a mix of greens, reds, yellows, purples and oranges – hang from trees, appearing to move within their frames as leaves overhead swing in the breeze, casting changing shadows on the myriad of fi ery, contrasting colours.
“I’m playing this painting,” said the cellist, Brenda Mueller. “To me, it’s the dark unseen force. Not dark meaning bad, but a very old unseen presence that’s in the forest.” Gradually, more people gather in front of Mueller as, apparently oblivious to the company, she sits in the forest, surrounded by trees, mushrooms, underbrush, quiet onlookers and the paintings of Bert Weir...(more)
http://www.parrysoundsideroads.com/pssideroads/article/122272 - Copyright © 2009 Metroland Media Group Ltd
Discography
Selected Discogrophy for Brenda Muller
Wolf at My Door, CD, 2003 - original songs and lyrics by Brenda Muller, performed by Ardeleana
Mother' Gai's Song, single 2005, music and lyrics, Brenda Muller, perforemed by Ardeleana
Spinners of Starlight, CD,1993, first recording to feature only music by Canadian Women, produced by Brenda Muller, performed by Ardeleana
The Legend of the First Rabbit, 1989
Photos
Bio
Bushwalk is an interdisciplinary installation/event of landscape, painting, music, dance, and the spoken word that invites audience participation and interaction.
The installation incorporates 47 paintings of Nature’s energies by Bert Weir, exhibited in a bush of mature trees, and interacting with spontaneous music created by cellist/composer Brenda Muller in collaboration with percussionist Rod Fogarty. Curated by Visual Artist Diane Feaver, the event invites those who walk the ½ kilometer path to stop and listen to poets, musicians and storytellers, and watch or even join dancers as they perform at clearings and glens along the trail. The sounds of poets and musicians combine as they float through the woods to create an aural gateway that transforms perception of the paintings.
Bushwalk, a tribute to the interplay of the colours, forms, shadows and sounds of the forest brings into a conscious, experiential realm the hidden presence that dwells there. In Newfoundland, leading Maritime Canadian poets M. Travis Lane and Marian Francis White will respond to Weir’s vibrant paintings and Muller’s free jazz stylings with spoken word. The Straw House Interpretive Dancers, Debbie McGibbon and Wave Weir provide a visual link between poets. paintings and musicians, playfully extending the lines and forms of the paintings so that the paintings become performers in the event.
Bushwalk is as long as the walker on the trail wants it to be. It adapts easily to local geography, and is designed to incorporate local artists and musicians in an artistic collaboration with the core performers. A small bush, conservation area or park with a 2 -3 acre wild area is required as both exhibition and performance space.
Bushwalk can take 10 minutes or whole day to experience. Performers start at approximately 10 am, echoing the morning light as it plays on the paintings with words, movement and music, and continue to respond to the changes in light until the long shadows of late afternoon alter Weir’s paintings into a vital, wild presence in the forest.
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