SOUND TRAILS, A New Immersive Program Comes to The Sembrich's Lakeside Paths
A new immersive outdoor program titled “SOUND TRAILS, An Immersive Soundscape” comes to The Sembrich’s historic lakeside grounds. Created by composer and 2023 Flonzaley Resident Artist Jesse Gelaznik, SOUND TRAILS invites the listener into a musical fantasy, via their smartphone, as they walk The Sembrich’s lakeside and woodland paths, creating an experience that blends technology with poetry, music, nature, and the human voice. The installation will run from August 9 through October 15.
To open the new immersive experience, The Sembrich is hosting two composer-led sessions on Wednesday, August 9 at 2 PM and 3 PM which include a discussion of the two pieces, their content, and how the project came about. Gelaznik will also talk about his time spent on Lake George and the creative inspiration that he finds on the Sembrich grounds.
“This unique immersive experience is a fitting addition to our 2023 ‘Trailblazers’ series,” says Artistic Director Richard Wargo. “Two separate trails, Red and Green, will each be accompanied by a five-minute sound piece which will correspond to each trail. The two immersive pieces have different themes: the Red trail represents a feeling of walking the path back in Marcella Sembrich's time and includes excerpts of her voice from digitized historic recordings. The Green path will be a more modern take on the surroundings.”
Jesse Gelaznik is a composer, visual artist, and founder of the New York-based performance art collective Dirty Churches. His music evokes a sound world of layered synthesizers and dramatic vocals blended with analog tape samples, electronic textures, and acoustic instruments. He is currently composing music for various commissions including a short opera for the New York company Experiments in Opera.
In 2021, Jesse’s sound design and musical compositions were featured as the multi-channel audio component of Andréa Stanislav’s immersive installation “SURMATANTS – MARS RISING” at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jesse’s video opera “RUMPLES” also premiered at the Mattress Factory Museum and was later exhibited at WhiteBox for their group exhibition “Perfect Day.”
This immersive installation is generously sponsored by the Lake George Land Conservancy.
Tickets for the composer-led talks are $25 and may be purchased via phone at (518) 644-2431 or online at TheSembrich.org/festival.
