Golden Hour Sound Service
w/ artist Christina Watka + a music performance by Tomas Cruz, Katie Seiler, and Andrew Halchak
in the Gallery at 3S Artspace
Sunday, January 12
Doors 12:30pm / Event 1pm
Free to attend / RSVP requested
Seated
Join exhibiting artist Christina Watka and her friends for a Golden Hour Sound Service in the Gallery at 3S Artspace, amidst Christina's works.
As the afternoon sun moves across the Gallery, we will immerse ourselves in the collaborative spirit of art, music, and golden hour light while Tomas Cruz, Katie Seiler, and Andrew Halchak weave, blend, and improvise together in their performance of the music composed for "Threaded Wonder," the monumental installation suspended in the Gallery.
Music is a fitting partner to Christina’s lyrical installations. When conceiving of her site-specific installation, "Threaded Wonder" for her solo exhibition Noticing Light at 3S, she always imagined music playing a large role. In the generative spirit of evoking a lightness and sense of awe in the gallery, Christina commissioned singer Tomas Cruz, singer Katie Seiler, and woodwind player Andrew Halchak to compose music that paired with the work. These musicians are friends who attended The New England Conservatory in Boston together many years ago, and along with Christina, their collective experiences since then culminate now into a breathtaking collaboration shared at a time when more than ever, the world needs art, light, music, and a reason to bring people together to witness the harmony of these things.
Tomas Cruz is a wildly dynamic singer who brings his experience as a longstanding member of the St. Thomas Choir in New York City and most recently as a performer and singer in the United States’ debut of Meredith Monk’s Indra’s Net at the Park Avenue Armory. Andrew Halchak is Christina’s husband and ultimate collaborator in life and all creative endeavors; with a master’s degree in music and a focus on jazz and microtonal music, he brings his experience as a lead saxophone soloist in the Portland Jazz Orchestra. Katie Seiler, a NH-native, has been steeped in vocal performance and writing for well over a decade, she is trained in the Alexander technique and is currently a voice teacher at the Third Street Music School in New York City.
To begin the collaboration with the trio, Christina shared keywords to inspire and evoke feeling in the music: awe, wonder, nature, harmony, lightness, air, chorus, movement, memory, time etc. Have you ever been traveling and come upon an intimate performance in some forgotten space? You walk down a back alley somewhere and hear faint music coming...so you walk toward the sound, and it gets louder and louder until you're there, looking in on someone's living room or some tiny church hall, watching people share their gift of music with the world? This has happened to me many times in many places, and it always felt dreamlike, like they were playing/singing just for/to me. It made me feel so glad to be alive, and so in touch with how grateful I feel when I get to share myself with the world. I love the wonder that feeling holds. The voice is such a beautiful thing.
Golden Hour Sound Service is generously supported by Bankprov.
Thank you to our year-round Lead Sponsors: AC Hotel Portsmouth, The Brook Casino, Katzman Contemporary Projects, MacEdge, and Raka.
