Post-UNPLAY Post

Alas, I am back from NYC where I had the very wonderful opportunity to be part of Conrad Tao's UNPLAY Festival, which in my words was an exploration of the classically-trained musician's (or any artist, I like to think) role in the modern world of technology and mainstream ideals. The music was awe-inspiring and I was happy to be surrounded by the people I love the most: young nerdy artists with the most insane ambitions.

I performed June 11th, which was the first day of the three-night festival, Conrad's 19th (yeah, I know) birthday and the release day of his first full-length album "Voyages." There were some technical scares along the way (as always), but it all turned out rather nicely and my extreme gratitude goes out to Conrad and his crew for the opportunity. Here are some records and reviews of the night:

"When Mr. Tao opened with “iridescence,” a bubbly piece for piano and iPad included on “Voyages,” his performance was accompanied with an abstract video by Isabela Dos Santos...Sriracha closed with “i,” a winsome jazz-pop ballad by Kate Davis. Ms. Dos Santos, shadowy behind a translucent screen, danced along with her projected animations..." - Steve Smith, NY Times

The Galerie Project also reviewed that night of the show and said some very nice things about everyone's work, along with providing a couple of Vine clips.

"One of my favorite performances of the night. Isabela Dos Santos performed a live interpretive dance in cooperation with her short animated film, “i.” At moments, Dos Santos seemed to blend into the animated figure she was mimicking." - Dan Ragan

YoungArts also very graciously provided live streaming of that night of the festival, which is now available online for the world to see!

My work was featured in the opening number "iridescence," an experimental animation compiled on VDMX (with the technological support of Matt Broach), which was hooked up to Conrad's equipment so he was the one triggering the images through his piano and iPad. And around the 48-minute mark is my performance of "i" although it's a bit difficult to see me through the scrim on this recording. Conrad rearranged Kate Davis' song and Erika Thompson provided the lovely Beach House-y vocals. I danced.

The rest of the show is even more fantastic, so whenever you're sitting around and want some good music and performance, you should watch it allllllllll. I particularly recommend the second number, "leaves," with Caleb Teicher on percussive dance, and then the one with the trio of toy pianos. It's a cute one.

And finally, thanks to everyone who attended live or online! Hopefully some more exciting things are on the way for this summer, but for now, let's all enjoy the sunshine.