Providence’s Art Star On the Rise with Kronos’ “Sun Rings” Spectacle

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Oct. 26, 2006 – The FirstWorksProv Festival finishes its triumphant romp through fall with another coup: a rare Rhode Island appearance by Kronos Quartet, with their epic sights-and-sounds voyage into the solar system, “Sun Rings.” Kronos brings this spectacular production to VMA Arts & Cultural Center on Nov. 3 between engagements at the Vienna Festival and Carnegie Hall. “Sun Rings” combines live music (a magical score played by Kronos and written by American composer Terry Riley), stunning astral projections by uber-designer Willie Williams, and 45 voices from the Providence Singers.

FirstWorksProv, Providence’s cutting-edge take on the venerable Spoleto festival, encourages audiences to “experience the art of what’s new” by bringing fresh arts and ideas to the city. Hailed as an “unprecedented success” by Mayor David Cicilline, FirstWorks is in its third year, and presented its most ambitious festival yet in 2006. This year’s festival will be feted with a special finale party after the “Sun Rings” performance.

The Grammy Award-winning Kronos, the most respected music ensemble of our time, is known for making each performance an event. Said the LA Times of “Sun Rings,” “Space sounds swirl in the air; galaxies carpet the walls and ceiling; and Riley’s generous melodies flow. . . . The audience sat in spellbound silence the way spectators do at a space launch.” Kronos is long celebrated for their fearless innovation and unique artistic collaborative forays into world and pop music and other genres; this journey into space is also a celebration of life here on earth, with references to music from around the world.

An over-the-top concert stage has been created for “Sun Rings” by Willie Williams, famed for designing concerts for U2, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie, among others. His astounding “Sun Rings” set presents images of the cosmos projected onto 40-foot screens that give the audience an almost IMAX-like experience of outer space as accompanied live music, choir, and actual sounds of the heavens. Over the last 40 years, NASA has discovered that space is not, in fact, silent. Super-hot gases there produce a range of sounds that resemble the sweet chirping of birds, howling winds, and other sounds from nature. These NASA recordings, previously unheard by nearly everyone except rocket scientists, have been incorporated into “Sun Rings,” giving its audience a whole new experience of the natural world.