iOrpheus (the iPod Opera)

I'm looking forward to the arrival of William Duckworth, in collaboration with the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre as a prelude to the iOrpheus; Art among us digital arts project – a public opera based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and written for and with South Bank Precinct in Brisbane, Australia. William is a New York-based composer and internet music pioneer who will be a visiting scholar with Griffith University from the beginning of a June on a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant awarded specifically for this project. He is a Professor of Music at Bucknell University and one of the leading composers of web-based music.

Performed on iPods, mobile phones, and laptops, along with interactive installations and live performers, iOrpheus will take place on Friday, August 31, 2007 in the streets, parks, and promenades of South Bank. All sounds—iPod, mobile phone, and laptop, as well as live performers and interactive installations—are broadcast live into the park, either with portable speakers, fm transmitters (with appropriate receivers and amplification), or, in the case of fixed locations, plugged into a common board with its own sound system.

Thanks to Griifth's DVC-Academic, Prof John Dewar for his support of this project. I look forward to working with our partners who will be centrally involved in the technical aspects of this production: thanks to Apple Computer Australia for their MacBook Pros, MusicLab for their portable audio systems, Acoustic Technologies Electronics for their 5.1 surround PA as to be featured in the Sound Garden, and to Griffith Research Computing Services for the networking and wireless systems on South Bank – roll on August.