Wedding the Arts

(An in-depth review)
"Since the earliest records of Western culture, artists have sought ways to combine the visual, musical and poetic arts into a single art form.
Wide-angle panoramas, single panels or thematically related triptychs of photography fade on and off the screen in precise synchronization with the musical phrases and rhythmic patterns.

Reflections of the Spirit, composed in 1994, is an homage to the ancient Anasazi Indians, the ancestors of today's Navajo [and other tribes], who reside in the Four Corner[s] area of the Southwest. The work opens with a recitation of an ancient Native American invocation to the Great Spirit, which was declaimed by Betty 'Red Ant' LaFontaine, a full-blooded Navajo. Most of the photographs of this magnificent mesa country were taken at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. The serenity of [the composer's] music, performed sensitively by the orchestra, matches the serenity of the landscape with its lights and shadows as the sun completes a full day's circuit.

A Love for the Land, is an homage to [America's heartland], its beauty and its people. The images follow the year, from snow to leaf fall, with images of the wild mountains, cultivated valleys and their rugged inhabitants. ... Westwater's images, as well as his photochoreography, were always in sync with the spirit and rhythm of the music.

In a preconcert lecture, Westwater admitted that musical purists are often somewhat leery of his work. But after experiencing his photochoreography, it's clear to us that there is little essential difference between Westwater and George Balenchine, who set classical scores for dancers. ...

Westwater's inspiring marriage of the arts spurred the Symphony to superior performances of the [scores].

We would like to see him spread the inspiration, perhaps utilizing his tremendous creative talent in the CD-ROM arena, where adults and children could experience and even create their own multimedia responses to music. Another way to vary the hair color in our concert halls? Perhaps." --The Independent, Durham, NC

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Photochoreography engagements include the principal orchestras of Cleveland, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Dallas, Vancouver, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cincinnati, Saint Paul, Indianapolis, Houston, Portland, Denver, Saint Louis, Columbus, Rochester, Buffalo, Salt Lake City, Singapore and Scotland, plus over 150emore >



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