Earth-Echo

photo credit: Fractal 9 L. Kolker  sylph.com

Earth-Echo

A community-based vocal composition with Wende Bartley

An Invitation to participate

Earth-Echo Community Workshop Schedule:

Sunday, May 7, 2006, 1–4 p.m.: Sound Voice workshop with Wende Bartley, open to everyone

Monday to Thursday, May 8 to 11, 5–7 p.m.: Earth-Echo creation workshops for interested participants

Saturday, May 13, 6 to 10 p.m.: Dress rehearsal and performance


All interested community members, regardless of experience, were invited to participate in the creation of a group vocal piece with visiting Toronto composer Wende Bartley.

Wende Bartley was commissioned by CFUV community radio to create Earth-Echo, a vocal composition with and for the Victoria community to be performed May 13, 2006, as part of the Open Space Voice ++ Festival May 7–15.

Earth-Echo was created through community collaboration in a week of free workshops offered by Wende Bartley at Open Space May 7–11. Group exercises led participants into a deepening connection with the power of their own voice and provided an introduction into the emerging field of soundhealing. Participants also worked with the power of sound to create a personal and group connection through echo, listening, and resounding with the matrix of the earth. The ancient sound traditions of Greece, Malta, and Egypt informed the workshop process. The resultant sonic language created by the group was shaped into a performance work for a concert on Saturday night, May 13.

Participation in Earth-Echo offered an excellent opportunity to those who wished to explore the potential of their own unique vocal expression within a comfortably guided group creative process.

Earth-Echo was a prelude to the presentation of Wende Bartley’s current project, Descending Wild, which was also presented during Voice ++ Saturday night, May 13. Wende Bartley and a collective of musicians explored the old Russian story of Baba Yaga, using materials from Wende’s body of myth-based compositions and electroacoustic improvisation to offer this wild creature a voice in the present.

Wende Bartley is an internationally recognized composer whose work spans the genres of concert music, audio installation works, film and video soundtracks, opera, and music for dance. Wende’s work grows out of a personal exploration of the connection between voice, breath, the inner spirit of a person, and nature.