February 22, 2025
7:00pm MST
MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater
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The Playground Ensemble and MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater invite you to create sound and beauty in a common space, to come together in community, support each other, and listen to the reverberations. 

This interactive performance features a Playground-commissioned version of Arone Dyer’s Dronechoir, a community singing event described as “a social performance experiment that combines unfamiliar collaborators with an unrehearsed performance, and everyone is singing together for the first time with people they may never have met before.”

*WE WANT YOU TO SING WITH US! if you would like to be part of Dronechoir please fill out this Google Form and we will send more information!

The evening also features the premiere of two different works by Denver-based composer Gabriel Mininberg and Playground founding Director Conrad Kehn. The program will include special interactive elements and audience participation.

The performance will be accompanied by a gallery display of works presented by our friends at the Denver’s Prison ART Experience.

Doors open at 6:30 pm, concert starts at 7:00 pm.

Free parking available at North High School.

Cash bar available for audience members 21+.

Program

Dronechoir (2025) by Arone Dyer

Performed by Playground Community Members

*WE WANT YOU TO SING WITH US! if you would like to be part of Dronechoir please fill out this Google Form and we will send more information!

Dronechoir is a community singing event as well as a social performance experiment. Each singer is given musical and movement cues through earphones. In this Playground-commissioned version of the piece, Dronechoir reshapes itself through space-specific movement directions that are fed to generous, adventurous vocalists of diverse backgrounds whose voices vary in volume, range and timbre — which is where the movement directions come into play, physically foregrounding specific singers at different points in the piece. As a result, the singers may move closer to members of the audience than expected, bringing depth to the listener’s experience by challenging comfort barriers and introducing a heightened sense of engagement with the performance.

But discomfort is also a factor for the performers: Dronechoir combines unfamiliar collaborators with an unrehearsed performance, and everyone is singing together for the first time with people they may never have met before. We're given the opportunity to become comfortable with our discomfort, settling into the unknown. Throughout the piece, the vocalists learn what their role is within the choir and composition. By committing to this unrehearsed performance they naturally demonstrate a sense of hope and support, acceptance with what is in the moment, love and respect to our audiences and each other.

Vessels (2022) by Nathan Hall

Performed by:
Sonya Yeager-Meeks, Flutes
Nathan Hall and Audience Members, Singing Bowls

A chamber work for flute/bass flute and singing bowls, ‘Vessels’ was commissioned and premiered by flutist and educator Cobus du Toit. This work incorporates improvisation and collaboration from the singing bowl players, who are guided by the flutist to play graphic scores (abstract shapes and basic instructions) along with the flute throughout the piece--no musical training required. The piece ultimately hopes to open up access to 'classical' music performance while also creating a space for listening, reflection, responding, and the unique sound characteristics of these instruments. Duration is flexible depending on each performance and there are 8 ‘movements’ and two short flute solo interludes.

Carta de Amor (2024) by Gabriel Mininberg

Performed by:
Sarah Whitnah, Violin
Sonya Yeager-Meeks, Flute
Deborah Marshall, Clarinet
Rachel Hargroder, Percussion

Carta de Amor is a multimedia triptych for mixed chamber ensemble and reverberant water tank. Written for and recorded in the highly resonant 75-foot metal tank in Rangely, CO known as the TANK Center for Sonic Arts, this piece plays with the space’s long natural resonances and to create decaying shadows of sound that paint a sonic love letter in three parts. 

The piece features beautiful sound-interactive projections by new media artist LUCIA. Her dynamic abstract figurations draw from sacred geometry and cymatics to evoke a cyclicality between the sonic and physical worlds. The projected forms move in real time to the sounds produced by the Playground Ensemble’s instrumentalists.

Compositionally, the piece draws on sacred geometry and the monomyth (the “hero’s journey” story archetype), making frequent use of ternary structures to encode a sort of musical trinity. Each of the three movements has three major formal sections, uses triple rhythms, three-note melodic motifs, modulations in thirds, and triadic harmonies or derivatives thereof. The final movement, for instance, begins with a triplet gesture sequenced in three transpositions, giving way to a syncopated three-note ostinato in the vibraphone which is joined by a gentle three-note motif in the flute. Even at the height of the development of this movement, when the harmony is most abstracted, modulations in thirds lead to a dissonant polychord composed of major triads a tritone apart supporting a three-note melody in the violin.

Melodically, each movement draws on the previous one— motifs are manipulated and developed in each part of the piece to form the basis for the melodies of the subsequent movement. There is a similar harmonic evolution as well— the first movement harmonizes only in perfect intervals, while the second movement implies harmony in the exposition, abstracts four-voice counterpoint in the development, and explicitly states extended harmony in the recapitulation. The third movement makes use of triadic and more complex harmonies throughout.

The gradual evolution toward harmonic and melodic complexity over the course of the piece illustrates the monomyth narrative and takes the listener from a sort of austere acoustic primitivism to a richly colored sonic world.

Tonight’s performance uses artificial reverberation to recreate the sound of the TANK. The piece was recorded in the giant water tank as a performance/video installation, which can be viewed here.

Known Input by Conrad Kehn

Performed by Conrad Kehn

Known Input is a multimedia experiment for no input mixer, reactive video, live performers, and audience. I started working with no input mixer in the summer of 2024. The process is simple. Take the outputs of a mixing console and run them back into the inputs creating a perfect feedback loop. Every knob turned or fader adjusted adjusts amplitude and frequency in the most perfectly unpredictable ways. Over time I have fallen in love with these sounds. Such rich textures, piercing, grinding, deep and beautiful.

Over top of the no input mixer a manipulated recording of Allan Kaprow's 'How to Create A Happening' adds an anti-art narrative, and a set of audio reactive videos clips support that narrative via unrelated synchronicity.

Lastly members of the audience are encouraged to participate based on a set of note card instructions creating...... well..... a happening.

Spoken Word Artist

Taj Ashaheed is a force of nature – a poet, reentry specialist, security consultant, and activist whose life experiences fuel his powerful words and unwavering dedication to social justice. Born in Texas and raised across the country, from Maryland to California, Taj's journey has been one of transformation and resilience. This diverse upbringing, coupled with personal experiences navigating the complexities of the justice system, ignited a passion for advocacy and change.

Beyond his work in security consulting, where he's provided protection for VIPs and secured various venues, and his impactful contributions as a reentry specialist, guiding individuals returning from incarceration towards successful futures, Taj finds his most potent voice in poetry. His verses are raw, honest, and unflinching, confronting systemic inequalities and giving voice to the marginalized. He doesn't just tell stories; he embodies them, channeling the pain, hope, and resilience of communities striving for a better tomorrow. Taj's poetry is a call to action, a testament to the power of the human spirit, and a vital contribution to the ongoing fight for equality and justice. He believes in the transformative power of words and uses his platform to inspire, challenge, and ultimately, to create change.