Contemporary Music Ensemble Presents New Works to the World By Leighanne Saltsman '04
	RELATED Back to the main story		Men rush to their doom like moths flying to their death in the candle-flame. -Bhagavad Gita This line from the Bhagavad Gita informs "Death of the Moth," a multi-media performance piece (video, 15 musicians, and pre-recorded sound) by composer Tom Lopez, Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts, and filmmakers Rian Brown-Orso, Assistant Professor of Studio Art, and Hege Røyert of Norway. The work will receive its world premiere with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME), under the direction of Associate Professor of Conducting Timothy Weiss, Wednesday, March 19, at 8 p.m. in Finney Chapel. Inspired as well by Virginia Wolf's short story "The Death of the Moth" and the myth of Icarus, the piece is "a meditation on mankind's 'fall from grace' and our out-of-balance relationship to nature," Lopez, Brown-Orso, and Røyert write in their program notes. "The moth, like Icarus, is a capricious creature that is drawn towards light, but will inevitably burn its wings and fall." The development of "Death of the Moth" benefited from close collaboration between Lopez and the filmmakers. Brown-Orso and Røyert, who is also a digital artist, created video imagery for the work's screen projection. Professor of Dance Nusha Martynuk provided movement for the figure in the video, and many of the images were generated during winter term as part of a project that included art department students Danya Abt '04, John Hensel '05, Sarah Kramer '04, Ry Russo-Young '03, and Jessica Milne '04. Students from the art department have been involved in the pre- and post-production aspects of the video and will provide technical assistance during the performance. They have contributed their expertise in the set design as well.
			Back to the Backstage Pass