Presenter's Page for Abbie & Williams Spring 2006 Tour

 

This website contains links for just about everything you will need for the presentation of Abbie and William's concerts and masterclasess.

(A still from the video of Cybeline.)

 

Our Cell Phone Numbers While On Tour

 

(Note:  These numbers will not become active until early March.)

Abbie   (505) 770 3702

William (505) 770 3701

 

 

Our Technical Requirements for the Concert

  • We will need six hours in the hall to load in, setup our quadraphonic PA system, video projection equipment, and do the lighting.  

  • For lighting, we will need three small spots (ellipsoidals), one about 3 feet across, one about 18 inches across, and a larger one about 5 feet in diameter. They should descend at a steep angle (ca. 60 degrees,) but not so steep that there are shadows under my brows and nose. Source 4s are the best light if they are available.  

  • William controls the light and sound for the performance. Due to the limited length of computer cables we will be using, he must setup very near the stage -- usually in the front row of the audience. The lighting board should be moved to this area so that he can control it.  If that is not possible, there must be a technician in the lighting booth with an intercom headset so that my husband can give him the cues during the performance.  In that case, the technician will also need to have a 30 minute rehearsal with us.  

  • We will need to know when the lighting technician can be available during our setup to help us focus the lights. 

  • We will need a table about six feet long near the stage to set our equipment on.

  • Load out takes about an hour.  We will need two strong helpers for the load in and out.  Each should take about 30 to 45 minutes.    

We will thus need answers to the following questions:

 

1. Are the three lights available?

2. Will the table be available?
3. Can the lighting board be setup near the stage where my husband will be with our computer equipment? 

4.  If not, will the lighting person be able to rehearse the cues with us and be in the booth during the performance?
4. When would the technician like to be there to focus the three lights (and if necessary, rehearse the cues with us?)

5.  Will we have two strong helpers for the load-in and load-out?

Answers to these questions should be sent to William Osborne at this email address:

 

100260.243@compuserve.com

 

 

The Program for Our Concert

 

Click here to download a copy of the program for our concert.  This is a PDF document (Adobe Acrobat.) Click here for the program as a Microsoft Word document which you can edit if you like.  Please put the pages in the right order and photocopy as many as needed. Instructions are included with the the document.  (If you have trouble with this document or download, please contact us as soon as possible.)

 

 

Fliers/Posters for Our Concert

 

Click here to download a flier in color for our concert.  Click here to download a flier in black and white.  (Please be patient while they download.) The are Microsoft Word documents.  Type the concert's date and location in at the bottom,  photocopy and distribute as needed.  (If you cannot download the document correctly, please contact us as soon as possible.  We can also email a PDF copy with your specific info already typed in.)  

 

 

Press Blurb About Our Program

 

The information in the blurbs below can be altered as needed.  If you like, the information in these blurbs can be included on the backside of the above listed flier.  (If you would like longer, more formal descriptions of the works click here.)

Cybeline
(A music theater work for performance-artist, glove controller, trombone, video, and quadraphonic surround sound.)

Abbie Conant -- performance-artist, text and drawings
William Osborne -- music, video and direction

Cybeline is a music theater work about a cyborg trying to be a talk show host to prove she is human.  It is about nature, virtual reality, biotechnology, and the mass media -- about finding the heart and poetry in technology as it also contemplates its horrors. We explore our notion that the creation of a cyborg does not depend on the metalization of the body, but on the programmability of the mind.  We live in a wired together, prosthetic world of global “cyberbia“ where our minds are programmed by the mass media.


Among Cybeline's epsisodes are Schubert Lieder, the Egyptian Goddess Maat, Native American poetry, dismemberment, trombone playing, a talking hand, sacred cartoons, a vengeful opera singer, a martyred math geek, Hildegard von Bingen, fighter jets, commercials for synthetic flesh, cyborgian attack dogs, and personality-enhancement chips, Psalms, a country western song, Mother Nature, and a tribute to Joni Mitchell....all integrated into a 45 minute surround sound mini opera with computer-generated accompaniment, video and live electronics.  

"Music for the End of Time" 

(For trombone and quadraphonic tape based on the the Book of Revelation.)

 

by William Osborne

 

The electronic music of the surround sound creates a sonic environment in which the trombone is the central figure. The work explores all aspects of the trombone, ranging from expressions of "divine wrath," to wild rhythmic unisons with the Four Horsemen, to the gentlest, meditative lyricism.

There is something for everyone in this highly dynamic, varied and colorful concert presented by one of the world's best know trombonists and performance artists!

 

 

Press Photos

 

Click here for a link to numerous press photos of Abbie and William.  Click here for still images from the video used for Cybeline. (Scroll down as necessary.)

 

 

Video/Sound Files of Cybeline

 

Click here to find video files and still images from Cybeline.  (Scroll down on the page as necessary.)

Click here to find sound files from "Music for the End of Time."

 

 

Our Tour Itinerary

 These are the dates of the concerts.  Abbie usually gives a masterclass the day after the performance.

 

March 2    --   Ithaca College

March 4   --   University of Maryland, Baltimore County

March 7   --   Drew University

March 9   --   University of New Hampshire

March 13 --   University of Hartford

March 20 --   SUNY Potsdam

March 23 --   Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

March 28 --   Kenyon College

March 29 --   Miami University, Ohio

April 3     --   Western Michigan University 

April 5     --   Central Michigan University  

April 9     --   Illinois State University

April 12   --   Southern Illinois University