On April 4th 2019, synesthetic orchestral composer Mary Bichner was honored to partner with The Museum of Science Boston, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Arizona State University for the return of the "Synesthesia Suite" concert series.
Taking place inside Boston's state-of-the-art Charles Hayden Planetarium during two sold-out shows, this immersive musical experience featured live performances of Bichner's compositions paired with stunning visuals directly inspired by her polymodal synesthesia, allowing audience members to “hear” color and “see” sound just as Bichner does when she listens to music.
The synesthetic visuals for the 2019 version of “Synesthesia Suite” were presented in two exciting and innovative forms: a collection of dazzling 360° videos created by the Museum of Science's award-winning artistic team for the planetarium's full dome; as well a series of entirely new immersive LED-based technologies — including audio-responsive wearables and room illuminators — which were developed especially for “Synesthesia Suite” by the renowned scientists of MIT’s Neoperceptions Initiative and Arizona State University’s SciHub, under the direction of theoretical physicists Frank Wilczek (Nobel laureate and Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics) and Nathan Newman (Lamonte H. Lawrence Professor in Solid State Science). The creation of these new technologies was made possible by a generous grant awarded to the Neoperceptions team by the Council for the Arts at MIT (CAMIT).
The next edition of “Synesthesia Suite” is currently being planned for the autumn of 2019 — more details will be made available shortly!
PROJECT CREDITS:
Planetarium visuals by: The Museum of Science, Boston and Thomas Sanchez Lengeling [Neoperceptions @ MIT]
Garment design by: Siranush Babakhanova [Neoperceptions @ MIT]
Garment audio system by: Brodi Elwood [Neoperceptions @ MIT]
Garment lighting by: Thomas Sanchez Lengeling and Terry Kang [Neoperceptions @ MIT]
Software and hardware management: Thomas Sanchez Lengeling [Neoperceptions @ MIT] and Brent Smith [SciHub @ ASU]
Planetarium illumination by: Justin Pye and Brent Smith [SciHub @ ASU]
MIT/ASU Scientific advisors: Frank Wilczek and Nathan Newman