The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 — 5A
EVENT PREVIEW
‘Symphony in D’
returns to the D
Composer Tod
Machover talks
community, music
By DAYTON HARE
Daily Arts Writer
The city of Detroit has a more
storied history than the state
of Michigan itself. Founded in
1701
by
French
colo-
nists,
Detroit
has had
both
towering
highs
and
lethar-
gic lows.
It was in
Detroit
that
Henry
Ford’s
engine first sputtered to life,
the genesis of a journey that
would culminate in the city
becoming the capital of the
automobile industry and the
fourth largest municipality in
the United States. And it was
Detroit in 2013 that witnessed
the largest municipal bank-
ruptcy filing in U.S. history.
And yet, for all the highs
and lows, one thing Detroit has
always been is a place with a
multifaceted populace, home to
people from numerous different
walks of life. It’s this diverse
and vibrant image that com-
poser Tod Machover attempts
to capture in his new piece,
“Symphony in D,” which will
premier this Friday with the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra at
Orchestra Hall in Midtown.
“I started this series of city
symphonies about three years
ago,” Machover said in a phone
interview with The Michigan
Daily, referring to a group of
city-inspired works that began
in a collaboration with the
Toronto Symphony. “Detroit is
the first city in the U.S. where
we’ve done this project, and it’s
… kind of been the dream city
to do this project in, because
there’s so much changing in
Detroit now.”
According to Machover, there
are many aspects of the city that
make it a wonderful location for
a project of this sort. Detroit’s
recent struggles and rich his-
tory make it fertile ground for
creative collaboration.
“It’s a noble, rich, fantas-
tic, industrial city with a lot of
great musical history,” Macho-
ver said. “And every difficult
thing about American society
hit in Detroit all at once, start-
ing in the ’60s … and now every-
thing is being rethought. So a
project like this, people are just
so open in Detroit now to think
about what’s possible … doing
that through a piece of music —
people have really responded.”
Machover, who is a profes-
sor of music and media at the
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology Media Lab, has a
thorough musical edification
and vast experience with music
technology and nontraditional
composition methods. The son
of a concert pianist, Macho-
ver attended Juilliard, where
he studied with two titans of
American 20th-century music,
composers Elliott Carter and
Roger Sessions.
“Elliott Carter in particu-
lar … he was probably the most
creative composer I ever met,”
Machover said of his former
teacher. “I was inspired watch-
ing him think about music cre-
atively.”
Machover was also the first
director of musical research
at the Institut de Recherche
et Coordination Acoustique/
Musique (IRCAM), founded by
the legendary French avant-
garde composer Pierre Boulez.
All these experiences have
made
Machover
extremely
well-suited for a creative proj-
ect like “Symphony in D.”
“Part of my work for a long
time has been trying to use
technology — or any means
I could — to allow people to
participate actively in musi-
cal experiences, whatever your
background,” Machover said.
“(The Detroit project) was a
great moment to try to combine
the two sides of my work. One
is pushing the art form for-
ward, and the other is trying to
involve the public.”
Throughout
the
piece,
Machover engages with the
community of Detroit, col-
laborating
with
many
dif-
ferent artists, musicians and
community members from the
city. The symphony contains
not only musical contributions
from Detroit residents, but also
sounds from the city submit-
ted by the public. Each of the
symphony’s
five
movements
reflects a different aspect of
Detroit, from its automotive
history to a vanished African-
American neighborhood to a
Tod Machover
“Symphony in
D” Premiere
with the Detroit
Symphony
Orchestra
Weekend of Nov.
20, see times
online at dso.org
Tickets $15-$100
vision for the city’s future.
“By the time we got to
Detroit I realized that what I
really wanted to do was meet
people personally. I wanted to
explore the city myself and let
people know what I imagined
in the project,” Machover said.
“I realized that the way to make
this project work was really to
have an open mind … I really
came with an honest invitation
to join me to explore the city, to
teach me about the city and to
figure out together what was
worth telling.”
Drawing from his work at the
MIT Media Lab, in one move-
ment Machover uses a software
that he and his team developed
in 2002. The software allows
for
non-musicians
to
com-
pose — in this case, a group of
third graders from the Detroit
Achievement Academy contrib-
ute musical material for the
symphony.
“(The third graders) wrote
original pieces about Detroit
using software we have called
‘Hyperscore’ that uses lines
and color to allow anyone to
write original music that then
gets transcribed into tradition-
al notation,” Machover said.
Additionally, Machover has
invited senior citizens to share
their memories of the city, as
well as the spoken-word artist
Marsha Music and the writer
Tonya Matthews to read their
work on stage as part of the
symphony.
“Detroit is a place where
there really are incredible sto-
ries, people’s life stories, often
that nobody had the chance to
tell anybody,” Machover said.
“So I thought there had to be a
place for people’s voices in the
symphony.”
For the final movement of
the piece, there will be several
Detroit-based musicians and
groups performing on stage
with the orchestra. Many of
these musicians were people
Machover
met
during
the
course of the project — some
by pure coincidence, others
through workshops and improv
sessions.
“The fifth movement is the
finale, called ‘Together in D,’
” Machover said. “The actual
people I’ve met are so extraor-
dinary and their presence is so
individualistic and powerful
that there’s nothing like actual-
ly having some of them on stage
as part of the performance.”
Also present will be an Afri-
can drummer, an electric bass-
ist, a techno-funk duo, an indie
guitarist, four middle-school-
ers from the YouthVille after-
school program and a chorus
from the Chaldean community
— many of whom are Christian
refugees from the Middle East.
“It was much later than
usual for me that it turned into
a piece,” Machover said, cit-
ing his open-minded approach
to the project and the intense
creative
collaboration
with
various people from Detroit.
“I think that’s a real strength
about what this piece is.”
Made possible with the help
of a grant from the Knight
Foundation, the culmination of
Machover’s Detroit project will
premiere with the Detroit Sym-
phony Friday at 10:45 a.m. at
Orchestra Hall, Max M. & Mar-
jorie S. Fisher Music Center,
Midtown. An additional perfor-
mance will take place Saturday
at 8 p.m., which will also broad-
cast in a live webcast available
on dso.org/live.
TV REVIEW
‘PR: Junior’ is how
reality TV should be
By SHIR AVINADAV
Daily Arts Writer
The Emmy-nominated series
“Project Runway,” which has pro-
jected aspiring designers to suc-
cess in its 14
seasons
on
Lifetime and
Bravo, is giv-
ing the same
opportunity
to 12 emerg-
ing
young
designers in
its
spin-off
series, “Proj-
ect Runway:
Junior.” The
group of tal-
ented young
hopefuls — the youngest of whom
is just 13 years old — approach the
show and their first challenge with
vibrant personalities, imagination
and confidence.
The up-and-coming designers
have a more clear sense of their
personal aesthetics than I do of
what my next meal will be. Their
self-assuredness reminds us not
to underestimate the immense
talent teenagers are capable of.
It takes more than just the abil-
ity to operate a sewing machine
to face off in front of judges rank-
ing among fashion’s elite: super-
model and host Hannah Davis,
Kelly Osbourne, designer Chris-
tian Siriano and Cosmopolitan and
Seventeen Magazine executive
fashion editor Aya Kanai.
Though Heidi Klum is absent,
host Hannah Davis exudes Heidi
in every way — from Klum’s ele-
gant yet slightly menacing man-
ner of speaking and intimidating
beauty, to her mild playfulness.
Davis hosts alongside Tim Gunn,
whose forthright guidance serves
as the holy grail of mentorship
for aspiring designers. Matt, 17,
who hails from Manhattan Beach,
Calif., wastes no time in getting
on Gunn’s good side, gushing “I’m
better now that I’m in the presence
of a god,” after Gunn approaches
him to ask how he’s faring through
their first challenge.
As typical with reality competi-
tions, the strongest personalities
are given more screen time early
on. Matt is among these person-
alities, which also include Jack-
son (15, Minneapolis), Zachary
(16, Berkeley, Calif.) and Maya (13,
Maumee, Ohio). It’s refreshing to
see the liberty with which these
designers are able to express them-
selves on the show, which may not
necessarily be the case for them
back home — as is typically the
case with young teens whose con-
fidence and talent rank above aver-
age of their peers. And they have
the personalities to prove it.
The designers are welcomed to
New York atop a high rise over-
looking the entire city. As they
look around in awe, Samantha (16,
Queens) explains that she has lived
in New York her whole life and
has yet to see a rooftop. The over-
arching implication of this state-
ment demonstrates how shows
like “Project Runway: Junior”
give young talent opportunities
to get ahead that they may not get
otherwise. We soon learn that the
magnificent rooftop view is the
inspiration for their first challenge
in which they must construct a
garment inspired by the city itself.
Gunn’s declaration that he expects
the designers to be “fearless” and
“untethered” sets the tone for how
audiences are meant to perceive
the designers going forward.
Gunn’s awe for the young
designers mirrors our own as we
watch them navigate the over-
whelming amount of fabric and
supplies at Mood with just $200
to begin conceptualizing their first
challenge pieces. Full of heart, the
young designers don’t shy away
from designs that may be difficult
to execute in limited time and with
minimal experience. Amazingly,
with Gunn’s expertise, the con-
testants pull off designs that much
older, more experienced designers
could only dream of creating; and
in doing so, blow away the judges.
Maya’s uncanny replication of
the Manhattan skyline using strips
of leather on her perfectly tailored
jumpsuit negate her initial appre-
hension over being the youngest
and least experienced designer.
However, her youth is charmingly
entertaining when Gunn gives her
a vocab lesson on the word “disin-
clined,” when she is unsure wheth-
er he is admiring or criticizing her
garment before the runway show.
Samantha’s simple, but bold denim
pant and crop top exude NYC
A
Project
Runway:
Junior
Series Premiere
Thursdays
at 9 p.m.
Lifetime
street style, standing out among
the strongest pieces. When it came
time for the runway show, I found it
difficult not to get as excited as the
designers themselves, seeing what
they have accomplished coming
down the runway.
Despite the reputation of judges
like Zac Posen and Nina Garcia
from “Project Runway: Junior” ’s
parent show “Project Runway” to
tear apart designers in a manner
typical of the cutthroat fashion
industry — the panel on “Project
Runway: Junior” is much more
sensitive to their contestants’ ages
and limited experience. The judges,
while maintaining an air of auster-
ity to infuse the show with dramat-
ic tension, provides the designers
with constructive criticism intend-
ed to hone their talent and inspire
them to surpass the stigma associ-
ated with being so young.
This is exactly the show real-
ity television needs. With the
contestants’ endearing youthful
exuberance and talent, combined
with the challenging circum-
stances and drama typical of the
hit “Project Runway” series — it’s
difficult not to get hooked after
the first episode.
LIFETIME
“OK, who’s ready to get their ass beat?”
WIKIPEDIA
Classical music Richard Simmons.