The Great Lakes Ensemble's inspiration -- drawing on elements of this region's identity

The Great Lakes Ensemble is an artistic exploration of the Great Lakes region -- with musicians, dancers and visual artists who join the ensemble during performances and other creative projects. Since its inception two years ago, GLE has performed at venues in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Great Lakes Ensemble members draw their inspiration from a range of the Great Lakes' identity -- including human-built environments such as factories, and elements of this region's natural forces. During our performance at the Rapid Pulse Festival in Chicago, we began by performing a legato piece entitled "Early Morning Soundscapes" -- which included sounds and movements that were designed to evoke tranquil soundscapes one might experience as the sun is rising in the early morning. Click here to listen to the recording of that performance.

Marianne Brass, Rachael Ahn Harbert & Lisa LaMarre
with the rest of the Great Lakes Ensemble at dfbr8r

Last August we performed at the Lakeside Inn, during Portoluz's "Jazz on a Summer's Day" series. We performed my graphic score "Avian Formations," which asks ensemble members to sonically and kinestheticaly  meditate on bird flight formations -- geese migrating, starlings darting and swooping en masse, even flocks of extinct passenger pigeons. 

The Great Lakes Ensemble is planning our calendar for later this year, and we are thinking about more ways by which this region's history, textures, sounds and other elements can be integrated into what we do.