As part of its 10th Anniversary schedule of events, The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are now on sale for a January 23, 2016 concert by installation artist and multi-instrumentalist master William Close and the Earth Harp Collective.<\/p>\n
The 8 p.m. show represents the first event of the 2016 Winter-Spring Performing Arts Series slate at Monmouth \u2014 as well as the inaugural scheduling for the newly renovated Pollak Theatre. The flagship auditorium of the West Long Branch campus received a makeover during the school\u2019s holiday break interval, with nearly 700 new seats, new carpeting and other improvements enhancing the concert-going experience for audiences. In addition, the Pollak will boast a newly enlarged stage area \u2014 and just in time, as Close and his Collective promise to commandeer that space with a one-of-a-kind performance that\u2019s as much a visual experience as it is auditory.<\/p>\n
As much a self-described architect as he is a performance artist; as adept at tinkering as he is with the tailoring of breathtaking soundscapes, William Close is the inventor of more than 100 fully functional musical instruments with names like The Aquatar, The Percussion Jacket, The Drumbrella \u2014 and The Earth Harp, the world\u2019s largest stringed instrument and the centerpiece of a stage show that casts its spell through state-of-the-art lighting, dazzling choreography, passionate musicianship, and even the occasional suspension of the law of gravity.<\/p>\n
Augmented by vocalists, string and percussion players at work on an array of Close\u2019s signature sound creations, the Earth Harp Collective builds upon Frank Lloyd Wright\u2019s definition of architecture as \u201cfrozen music;\u201d exploring the harmonic possibilities of every venue, and in essence creating a unique work of living, moving, multimedia art wherever they appear. Far from remaining a \u201cbest kept secret,\u201d the group has amazed millions of viewers as a finalist act on NBC TV\u2019s America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em>; finishing in third place and winning over a panel of judges that included the legendary curmudgeon Howard Stern.<\/p>\n From there, it was on to a successful residency at the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas \u2014 and a series of globetrotting tours that have seen the Harp\u2018s strings stretch to the top of Seattle\u2019s Space Needle, resonate across ancient temples, and send its cello-like tones through halls ranging from NYC\u2019s Lincoln Center to the Grand Theater of Macau.<\/p>\n With its giant strings running from the stage to the back of the theater, extending out above the heads of the audience, The Earth Harp promises to turn the entire Pollak auditorium \u2014 from the walls, floor and ceiling, to the people in the seats \u2014 into a magnificent music machine that makes for a listening experience seldom duplicated from concert to concert. It\u2019s an encapsulation of the Center for the Arts mission of bringing cutting-edge performance to the coastal New Jersey audience in a popular forum \u2014 and a fantastic way in which to launch our new and improved Pollak experience.<\/p>\n