"Discovering Light"
|
|
A program inspired by celestial beings and the wonder of our natural night sky. The music invites listeners into a space of contemplation in our starry cosmos, accompanied by my nightscape images especially curated for this program. The visual and musical arts pave way from our earthly world to the divine and offer moments of solace. Enjoy this journey of discovering light in our timeless universe. Originally conceived as a duo program for flute and harpsichord, the instrumentation has broadened to a variety of combinations. Featuring landscape astrophotography from the spectacular dark skies of Europe and the USA.
Below are some examples of Teddie's work with music and photography, from live performances to art films. All images ©Teddie Hwang Photography
|
|
|
"Ein Abend mit den Sternen" / "An Evening with the Stars"
|
|
A program uniting music, dark skies, our universe, and faith.
The premiere of this project took place on Dec. 14th 2022 in the Talkirche Eppstein. The Christmas season was an ideal inspirational point for this program. However, it can just as well be suited for other occasions, especially during the darker times of the year. The program is designed to have an open, non-denominational interpretation of faith in connection with natural and environmental science. An integral feature is a presentation on introductory astronomy and the effects of light pollution, done by a night sky researcher from the region who can speak about impacts on the local community. "a perfect connection between the starry skies, music, and our soul. (eine perfekte Verbindung zwischen dem Sternenhimmel, der Musik und unserer Seele.)" - Reinhold Schultheiss from Hofheim |
|
|
|
On Early Music & the Night Sky
I am inspired by the night sky, in musical, artistic, and spiritual ways.
One thing that is common between early music performance and the night sky is the idea of looking into time, both into the past and into the future. My very humble photo of the Orion Nebula shows an object that is around 1500 light years away from us. That means, we're literally looking back 1500 years ago in the past - mind boggling to say the least!!!
In historical performance, I like to think that we are not just simply replaying "old music", but that we're honoring a musical heritage while still remaining relevant to our current society. It's about crossing borders, crossing time. Both early music and the universe can allow us to discover new paths, tap into creative energy in finding ourselves, in finding the divine.
When teaching music, I like to introduce the concept of "long exposure" to my learners. For daytime photography, a typical exposure value is a FRACTION of a second. For night and astrophotography it's normal to expose for a couple of seconds and longer. Through this imaging process we can see much more than we would with our bare eyes alone. This is insightful for musicians, as studying a piece of music also takes time and dedication. The true wonder of the music is waiting to be discovered by the player, beyond the printed notes on the page. It's not something we can "see" immediately, but it's there. Look at Bach's music - the constant rows of 16th notes look like it could be an etude! Yet it is one of our greatest treasures in the entire flute repertoire.
When you first arrive at a dark location, your eyes need time to adjust and in fact, it can feel uncomfortable at first as it may seem like the darkness is pressing in on you. But after a while, it's as if the darkness OPENS UP again and you start to see light around you. It's quite an amazing phenomenon and I take this as a reminder for us in music. That we need to pay attention to all the details in the music, and especially discover those that are "in the dark". I like to use these night images for my learners to demonstrate how there are many details present both in the shadow and light areas, and how they all contribute to the overall composition. We also need to understand a piece of music both on the local AND overall level. How does one note lead to another to make up a phrase, how do phrases link up to create a section, and how do sections make up an entire piece of music?
The night inspires and encourages. The night has allowed me to bring early music to a whole new audience, tap into unknown creativity, and come back to my affinity with nature since childhood. I invite you to discover what the night may mean for YOU!✨
One thing that is common between early music performance and the night sky is the idea of looking into time, both into the past and into the future. My very humble photo of the Orion Nebula shows an object that is around 1500 light years away from us. That means, we're literally looking back 1500 years ago in the past - mind boggling to say the least!!!
In historical performance, I like to think that we are not just simply replaying "old music", but that we're honoring a musical heritage while still remaining relevant to our current society. It's about crossing borders, crossing time. Both early music and the universe can allow us to discover new paths, tap into creative energy in finding ourselves, in finding the divine.
When teaching music, I like to introduce the concept of "long exposure" to my learners. For daytime photography, a typical exposure value is a FRACTION of a second. For night and astrophotography it's normal to expose for a couple of seconds and longer. Through this imaging process we can see much more than we would with our bare eyes alone. This is insightful for musicians, as studying a piece of music also takes time and dedication. The true wonder of the music is waiting to be discovered by the player, beyond the printed notes on the page. It's not something we can "see" immediately, but it's there. Look at Bach's music - the constant rows of 16th notes look like it could be an etude! Yet it is one of our greatest treasures in the entire flute repertoire.
When you first arrive at a dark location, your eyes need time to adjust and in fact, it can feel uncomfortable at first as it may seem like the darkness is pressing in on you. But after a while, it's as if the darkness OPENS UP again and you start to see light around you. It's quite an amazing phenomenon and I take this as a reminder for us in music. That we need to pay attention to all the details in the music, and especially discover those that are "in the dark". I like to use these night images for my learners to demonstrate how there are many details present both in the shadow and light areas, and how they all contribute to the overall composition. We also need to understand a piece of music both on the local AND overall level. How does one note lead to another to make up a phrase, how do phrases link up to create a section, and how do sections make up an entire piece of music?
The night inspires and encourages. The night has allowed me to bring early music to a whole new audience, tap into unknown creativity, and come back to my affinity with nature since childhood. I invite you to discover what the night may mean for YOU!✨
|
|
|