Wiardgroup

Gary Chang and Neil Leonard Illuminate Sacred Spaces in Italy

During the month of June, 2007, notable composers Gary Chang and Neil Leonard will visit 
several sites in Italy with the task of completing 5.1 installations of a program of music 
entitled "Sanctuaries," which are meditative ambient analog electronic music pieces 
composed by Chang and realized on a Wiard Modular Music System, specifically designed 
for playback in churches and other public locations. The tour is sponsored by Sguardi 
Sonori 2007, Festival of Media and Time Based Art, for which Leonard is a also a curator.

The cities in the tour will include Rome, Benevento, Torino, Venice, San Galgano and La 
Spezia.  While in La Spezia, Chang and Leonard will also have access to the Naval base, 
where there are very large rooms (indoor drydocks for warships, for instance) and other 
interesting ambiances, such as marble quarries and museums, where further explorations 
in unusual ambient spaces will be recorded and cataloged.

Utilizing Blue Sky Monitors and extensive Taralabs wiring at each installation, each 
location will be recorded using a Soundfield SP422B mic, which is a recording system that 
can yield from mono up to a 7.1 playback. Recording will be achieved using a tcelectronic 
Konnekt Live, interfacing to a laptop computer and portable firewire drives.  In addition, 
Impulse Response data will be collected from each of the locations to create a library of 
interesting convolution reverb spaces for McDSP's Revolver.

Following the Italian journey, Chang and Leonard will give many presentations on the 
project, including a workshop presented by GASP Gallery in Brookline for senior students 
in electronic music at Berklee College of Music.

This project would not be possible without the generosity of sponsors, who include The 
City of Rome; The City of Venice; La Marrana - environmental art park, (for graciously 
coordinating recording and installation sites during a week long residency in La Spezia); 
Sguardi Sonori 2007, Festival of Media and Time Based Art; Blue Sky Speakers; TaraLabs 
Cables; tcelectronic digital audio interfaces and processors; The Wiard Synthesizer 
Company; Transaudio Group/Soundfield Microphones and The Berklee College of Music.

Confirmed Schedule – (Actual locations to be announced).

June 12/19        LA SPEZIA
June 20        ROME
June 21/22        BENEVENTO
June 23/24        TORINO
June 26/27        VENICE
June 28    SAN GALGANO (Installation includes "Echoes and Footsteps" by Neil Leonard in 
addition to "Sanctuaries")
June 29 – July 4    LA SPEZIA 
 


SANCTUARIES

An installation by Gary Chang and Neil Leonard
San Galgano, Sienna, Italy

NOTES: GARY CHANG

 The music entitled "Sanctuaries" that I have composed for installation in churches is 
designed for such an environment of spirituality and meditation.  The musics are ambient 
in quality, designed to fill the space with warmth and emotion, but never does the musics 
every confront the visitor - though there is some abstraction, the dynamics of the pieces 
are quite controlled, never overtly dramatic.  In the best of all things, I am hoping that the 
music installation will simply be another contributor to the specialness of the Church's 
ambiance - my special prayer in the space.  In loving memory of Diana Lee Chang.

NOTES: NEIL LEONARD

Echoes and Footsteps is a reflection on the sound of Italy, where I lived and work for much 
of 2006. The primary sources are the sound of cowbells recorded in the region of Lazio, 
and the songs of workers celebrating the end of the work day in the Palazzo di Ragione 
market in Padova. The pointed gestures of the bells and bursts of cathartic song were 
transformed using time-stretching and delay techniques. The resulting composition 
evolves in slow motion and outlines large sonic contours that celebrate the essence of 
daily life as I head it while living here.

GARY CHANG SHORT BIO

Sound artist and esteemed film composer Gary Chang worked his way up through the LA 
studio musician ranks playing with the best musicians in the country (e.g. Robbie 
Robertson, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report, Barbara Streisand and Henry Mancini,) 
later to compose music for many eminent filmmakers (including John Frankenheimer, 
Jonathan Demme and Stephen King).  Few composers have mastered such a wide range of 
musical genres that Chang has (orchestral, electronic, installation, jazz, soundtrack, 
dance).  Chang is a protagonist in the field of music synthesis. He has recorded on and 
programmed almost major every hardware and software synthesizer over the last thirty 
years, built dozens of custom systems, and designed a personal studio that is optimized 
for recording synthesizers in multi-channel and high definition audio. Chang won the 
National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Jazz Composers while attending California 
Institute Of the Arts. Chang is a pioneer in the use of 5.1 surround sound in cinema, 
concert and installation settings.

NEIL LEONARD SHORT BIO

NEIL LEONARD is a sound artist, composer and saxophonist. His compositions are a 
synthesis of concert, improvised and electronic musics that transcend categorization. 

Leonard's recently premiered works include Dreaming of an Island for orchestra, 
electronics and live-video (performed by Kirk Trevor and the Indianapolis Chamber 
Orchestra), Totems (performed by Byron and Caine at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York 
City), and the music for Relatives (by Tony Oursler and Constance DeJong that was 
featured at the Whitney Biennial). His collaborative work with visual artist Maria Magdalena 
Campos-Pons was featured by premier venues for modern art including 49th Venice 
Biennial; Museum of Modern Art, NY; and presented by the U.S. State Department at 
DakArt/Dakar Biennial in Senegal.

Leonard is co-owner of Gallery Artist Studio Project GASP and curator of the GASP sonic 
arts series in Boston. His ensemble has featured Marshall Allen (Director of the Sun Ra 
Arkestra), Bruce Barth, Dave Bryant, Don Byron, Kenwood Dennard, Robin Eubanks, Frank 
Lacy, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and Uri Caine. 

Neil Leonard is an Associate Professor in the Music Synthesis Department at Berklee 
College of Music.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Mr. Chang and Mr. Leonard wish to thank Bruce Weisberg of Blue Sky Speakers, Rebecca 
Barnhardt of TaraLabs Cables, Ed Simeone of tcelectronic, Grant Richter of The Wiard 
Synthesizer Company, Bradley Lunde at Transaudio Group/Soundfield Mics, and Carl Dito 
at Coast Audio for their sage advice and contributing their companies' products on behalf 
of our project.  Gary wishes to thank his family, Ann and Arthur Chang and Margaret 
Craig-Chang.

Special thanks goes to Stephen Croes and Kurt Biederwolf of Berklee College of Music for 
their continued support. 

Thanks to Anthony Baldino, Tara Sarmov and Pierce Warneke, students of the Music 
Synthesis Program at Berklee College of Music for assisting with the installation.

Extra special thanks are extended to Carlo Fatigoni, Sandro Cecchi and Marisa Corazzol of 
Sguardi Sonori 2007. Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons of Gallery Artists Studio Projects 
GASP Gallery, Colonel Sergio Cavanna of The SAVTAM Aeronautica Militare, Cadimare – La 
Spezia Italy, and Gianni and Grazie Bolongaro of La Marrana di Montemarcello, La Spezia 
Italy.