And Flowers Showered

An immersive exploration of self through a multi-sensory experience

And Flowers Showered is an immersive concert-length exploration of the self through music, movement, and design. Commissioned by Contemporaneous and created by visionary Latvian composer Krists Auznieks, And Flowers Showered invites the audience to examine the question of what makes us each an individual.

The piece is divided into three parts:

  • Part I: Musicians and ushers guide blindfolded audience members into the performance space one-by-one, and they are engulfed in expansive music.

  • Part II: The audience is invited to remove their blindfolds, and they see that they are surrounded by natural beauty, projections, and musicians. In this part, a mezzo-soprano sings fragments from Wallace Stevens.

  • Part III: Joyous music erupts, and the audience is served a small bit of dried fruit. The music surges in an optimistic vision of a communal self.

The piece is intended to take full advantage of the space in which it is performed, therefore requiring some adaptation for each performance. In future performances, the creators intend to create greater depth to the immersive experience, inviting audience to move throughout a space.

And Flowers Showered is a project of Contemporaneous IMAGINATION, the ensemble's commissioning initiative which seeks to give voice to the wildest and most meaningful dreams of composers of all backgrounds from around the world.

In short:

  • Music by Krists Auznieks; designed by Magnus Pind

  • Duration: 100 minutes

  • Instrumentation: large chamber ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussionists, piano, electric guitar, mezzo-soprano voice, 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and contrabass)

  • Includes site-specific design and audience participation

  • Premiere: February 25, 2018 at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY

  • Available for booking

And Flowers Showered Artists

Krists Auznieks, composer

Magnus Pind, designer

Booking

For booking inquiries, contact Contemporaneous Executive and Co-Artistic Director Dylan Mattingly at dylan@contemporaneous.org or (510) 333.2543.