“Brushstrokes” explores the shared inspiration between visual art and music, through the lens and experiences of Deaf and hearing impaired artists.
How can music be expressed in color and line?
How can painting be translated into sound?
How can hearing audiences and musicians experience music through embracing the visual, spatial, and sensory richness that Deaf culture naturally values?
Nancy Rourke, a Deaf, Indigenous artist and activist, will begin the program by creating a painting live. The musicians of Arpeggione will interpret Rourke’s art through Soundpainting, a method of group improvisation using gestures based on ASL. The program will continue with chamber arrangements of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Haydn’s Symphony 104, performed on historical instruments. Hearing artist Stephen Bates, a musician and synesthete, will create a live painting inspired by the music, and we will feature artwork by students from the Beverly School for the Deaf. Specialized ASL music interpreters will be signing throughout the performance.