Firefly Music
Join us July 18 & 19th, 2024 for Firefly Music, in a livestream from the Fountain Creek Nature Center. Firefly Music utilizes code to turn Colorado’s elusive firefly flashes into sounds, which are paired with live musicians for Fountain Creek’s yearly firefly night hike. This year, we’re excited to be joined by the genius musician and philosopher Roger Green, formerly of The Czars and Porlolo, and currently a professor and author of A Transatlantic Political Theology of Psychedelic Aesthetics: Enchanted Citizens. We’re also excited that Victoria Lundy will be joining us again on theramin - Victoria has played with numerous bands since the 1990’s, and her ethereal sounds are the perfect compliment to the magic of the fireflies flashes.
We hope to turn Firefly Music into a yearly event that travels around Colorado, to help protect our native and unique firefly species! If you’d like to help out, please donate!
The world premier of Firefly Music took place on July 7 & 8, 2023, at Fountain Creek Nature Center. My collaborator on this project was Ben Coleman, and we are grateful to Redline Contemporary Art Center, The INSITE Fund, and the Warhol Foundation for their support. The initial musicians were Victoria Lundy on Theramin, and the band Rare Byrd$. Documentarian was Efraín Leal Escalara. My hope is to turn this into a yearly project, celebrating Colorado’s elusive fireflies and raising awareness about protecting their habitats.
Firefly Music uses motion and light-triggered sounds using programmed code in Pure Data along with Python and Ableton Live to introduce Coloradans to the magic of fireflies via live webcasts that translate their flashing into sound, in collaboration with a rotating cast of live musicians. Unlike on the East Coast, where firefly populations are dwindling due to light pollution, Colorado has a hopeful story to tell, as the native species of fireflies are growing in population thanks to conservation efforts - yet most people in the West have never seen one in the wild. People will be able to view “live” concerts on the web where the flashing lights of the insects will trigger pre-programmed sounds for a unique experience each time. In this way, fragile habitats are protected and conservation efforts are preserved, while awareness is raised of the impact of conserving natural spaces.
Because the interface is endlessly programmable with different instruments and sound files, there are myriad opportunities for collaboration with area musicians and artists, and each performance will be completely unique, both due to the distinctive travels of the insects and the chosen sounds.
The inaugural performance for this project will take place at the Fountain Creek Nature Center on July 8 & 9, during their annually scheduled Firefly Night Hike. Though necessity requires a small audience for the performance, the live webcast will allow people around the world to experience it.
Created with Support from:
Video by Efraín Leal Escalara
Our goal is to turn Firefly Music into a yearly event, all around the state of Colorado. If you’d like to help make that happen or have enjoyed this event, please donate here. Proceeds will be split with Fountain Creek Nature Center to help them continue their excellent programming!
Collaborators
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Ben Coleman
Ben Coleman is a British multi-disciplinary artist residing in Denver, CO. His practice is rooted in sound and performance making, but often plays with other media, including music, text, video and installation.
Coleman grew up in theatre and music, forming his first bands in London while studying contemporary performance. Moving to the US in 2006, he dedicated some eventful years to musical projects- later returning to performance alongside new roles as composer, sound designer and installation artist. His practice now embraces curatorial projects, and frequent collaboration with choreographers, visual artists, and theater practitioners.
His work has been presented by institutions including the High Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, MCA Denver, Understudy, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Contemporary, Redline Contemporary Art Centre, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Gibney Dance, Dashboard, Georgia Institute of Technology, Flux Projects, Zuckerman Museum of Art and Emory University.
Coleman’s work has been featured by Hyperallergic, Wire Magazine, Vice, Pitchfork, The Denver Post, Southwest Contemporary, Arts ATL, Burnaway and WABE Atlanta. He is a resident alumnus and board member at Redline Contemporary Art Centre, Denver.
Visit him and his work here
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Victoria Lundy
Description goes hereVictoria Lundy has played theremin in the Denver experimental/underground scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant-garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra and is a founding member of Denver's acclaimed nerd rock band, The Inactivists. More recently, Victoria was a member of The Flux Crew Conduction Ensemble, a twelve-piece chamber ensemble that engages in real-time collaborative composition, and she is currently a member of the Carbon Dioxide Ensemble.
She was featured in the Westword Best Ambient-Music Showcase 2017 Textures Ambient Showcase and was honored as one of Denver's Top 100 Creatives 3.0.
Victoria has performed at many venues in Colorado as well as the Denver Noise Festival, the Titwrench Music Festival, the Westword Music Showcase, and the Underground Music Showcase. She appeared at the DU Lamont School of Music in a special convocation edition of the Concrete Mixer musique concrète series, and has demonstrated and performed the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention, Nerd Night, the Denver Mini Maker Faire, Rocky Mountain Synthesizer Meetup, Colorado Modular Synth Fest, Opera on Tap Colorado & the 2023 Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival.
Visit her website here.
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Rare Byrd$
RAREBYRD$ are a music making outfit based out of Denver, Colorado; consisting of vocalists/producers Kheya Yeager (Key~Lady), Korryne Coleman (KoKo La) & percussionist Mikey Blomquist.They are known for their live shows & many musical collaborations. They themselves, are Fun loving, water drinking, desert Homies. This crew rolls hard for bass atonement with Risqué music. They are for all types of life; ba$$ kittie$, live music lovers, museum goers, burlesque dancers, $onic freq$, and rappers in the club.
Security Detail for Denver Mayoral Candidate Kalyn Heffernan. Producers, Vocalists, Beat makers, Sound Engineers, Doers of Life.
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Rare Byrd$