Listening with the Body: A Harp Journey
"At times I was so mesmerised by Alice's playing that I also stayed quite still. I wanted to observe and listen and that felt fine. The fact that I wasn't sitting in a concert hall seat made a huge difference!"
"The resonating vibrational elements of Alice's performance on the harp created a unique heightened experience for me, not as the passive listener but the receiver and respondent of those vibrations. The bowing and voicing tonal qualities felt so natural and made so much sense to me!"
Alice Giles, harp
Moran Wiesel, performance artist
Alice Giles and Moran Wiesel are a heartwarming mother/daughter collaboration. Their focus is on merging disciplines, collaborating on a range of performance projects, including the Musica Viva in Schools Adventure in Antarctica show. They have forged a strong on-stage bond and extensive experience in responding to an audience in the moment.
Alice Giles AM is celebrated as one of the world’s leading harpists. First Prize winner of the Eighth Israel International Harp Contest, she has had a wide and varied international solo career, from London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Merkin, ‘92nd St Y’ and Carnegie Halls, to Mawson Station, Antarctica. She was regarded by Luciano Berio as the foremost interpreter of his Sequenza II. As Director of the Seven Harp Ensemble (SHE) has commissioned many new works by Australian composers as well as solo works for the electro-acoustic harp.
Moran Wiesel is a multi-disciplinary creative, weaving together music, spoken word & storytelling, and earth-based therapy & facilitation. Moran thrives in collaborating across artforms, offering sound therapy and earth-based counselling experiences to all ages through their project Earth Enspiralled. As a wordsmith, Moran was the winner of the 2022 Huon Valley Storyteller’s Cup, Tasmanian finalist of the Australian Poetry Slam in 2021 & 2022, and featured storyteller at the 2022 Tasmanian Storytelling Festival. Moran has performed in forests, caves, high schools, yoga centers, the Nayri Niara Good Spirit Festival, and community gatherings throughout lutruwita/Tasmania.
Listening with the Body: A Harp Journey
Celebrating a resonance between sound & body
Listening with the Body is a journey through the powerfully moving resonances of the harp. Together Alice & Moran create a space for the audience to explore the art of listening. Moran draws on meditative and sensory awareness practices to help us listen in a deeply embodied way to the harp, our inner worlds, each other, and the music. This creates the freedom for the audience to move if they wish, or to sit and feel within themselves the sound, colour, and complex patterns of Alice’s harp playing. The musical program is rich and varied, including Bach, Fauré, Debussy, the contemporary Australian composer Mary Doumany, and some improvisation. The program runs without applause to enhance the immersive experience. Each program adapts and responds to individual audiences, making Listening with the Body a collaboration between listener and performer.
Salzedo Introspection / Whirlwind
Debussy Clair de lune
Fauré Impromptu Op. 86
Bach Sarabande / Bourrée from Suite BWV 996
Eberhard Especially…
Bach Allemande from Suite BWV 996
Doumany Harp Body Her Body
Creating space for people to journey into the deepest parts of the music and themselves is an essential element for Listening with the Body. This is in contrast to listening to be entertained, as a consumer, or with analytical/critical/intellectual minds. In Listening with the Body, Alice and Moran have crafted elements to enable this:
- Bypassing performer/listener separations, so that the listener/receiver feels empowered to experience music in the way that is the most meaningful for them;
- Creating a feeling of freedom and intention in the “performance” space, to allow music to enter in the deepest places;
- Entering and using the world of the resonance of harp - with the sound, colour and complex patterns of music. Using sensory-awareness/body movement, intentional meditation/mindfulness, and a sense of shared listening community, to access this world.
Additional images coming in July/August 2023
A flat wooden floor is preferred with resonant acoustics (i.e. preference for a community hall, over a multi-purpose theater/speech-oriented space)
Technical specifications can also be found here
Alice & Moran would discuss with the presenter prior to the tour the best concert & seating format for their venue. We would then adapt the program accordingly. Possible examples:
Large flat space with moveable seating (small town hall for example
- Inner circle: floor tickets (best for lying/cushions) – e.g. 10 places lying down
- Middle circle: seated-chair tickets – e.g. 2 or 3 seated circles in the round
- Outside circle: open space tickets (best for free-movement) – e.g. 20-30 standing/moving tickets, possibly with cushions.
Raked theatre or fixed seating
Sale of tickets with options to block off some spaces between seats; use of lighting and more interactive flow from Moran to come into the theatre space; provision of additional on-stage seating option.
Listening with the Body has a structure and program; but at its core, the performance is about responding to the needs of listeners/participants – meaning the artists would like to work with presenters to create options suitable to them. The idea is to enhance and offer a new kind of listening experience, not to create discomfort, so adaptability and responsiveness is built into the concept.
Alice and Moran would discuss with the presenter prior to the tour to work out the best Listening with the Body format for their venue. The artists would then adapt the program accordingly. It’s likely there will be two versions of venues: theatre-style or in the round.
Example of ticket-types:
Open-floored flat venue:
Inner circle: floor tickets (best for lying/cushions)
Middle circle: seated-chair tickets
Outside circle: open space tickets (best for free-movement)
Theatre/fixed seating:
The artists will discuss with venues the best configuration for a) spaciousness, and b) proximity to the harp.
e.g. on-stage tickets, gaps between seats, and designated moving/standing seats.
Alice is available to run both a beginner or meet-the-harp workshop, as well as a chamber music masterclass (for any combination of instruments).
Moran is available to run a Earth & Sound workshop (focussed on experientially discovering the sounds of our natural environment, and creating a group soundscape), as well as Earth Connections - an immersive outside walking experience.
Further workshop and outreach activities are possible, pending discussion with the local community.
20 February - 31 May
5 August - 15 December
Book an artist
Travel to centres in regional NSW is subsidised through the support of Create NSW. Musica Viva Australia can book the artists, arrange all travel and accommodation, provide posters, flyers and program information.
If you are interested in bringing an ensemble to your town or city, please contact:
Patrick Brearley
Manager, Regional Touring & Special Projects
02 8394 6662