Barry Prophet Music for Theatre, Film & Dance
From
1979 – 1981, Necessary Angel Theatre Company commissioned Barry Prophet
to write several theatrical offerings including an adaptation of
Sophocles’ Electra (This Barry Prophet adaptation is striking...the
story is pared down without losing any of its emotional and mythical
power. Toronto Globe & Mail 1979) for which Barry also composed and
performed the percussion accompaniment.
Barry composed and
performed music for the sound track of the touring dance and
storytelling show Blue Magic by Jabberwock Full Theatre Company 1982.
Barry
performed solo on Ring Chamber (1983-85), then choreographer Janice
Pomer joined in Projections/Reflections (...a wide range of timbral
colour and visually exciting dynamics... Now Magazine 1986) from 1985-87.
Barry’s
other theatrical music scores include Canada’s 45.3 production of UBU (1985) and America’s Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble’s Women of Bakhos
(From the first entrance of the chorus to the final bars of music,
specially composed for the show by Barry Prophet, The Women of Bakhos
engages the imagination. The Times Leader Wilkes-Barre PA. USA.
1992).
Barry performed original music on the Glass Box with
dancer/choreographer Janice Pomer, The Glass Box Show toured from 1988 -
1993 (Provocative, challenging and ultimately riveting. The Canadian
Statesman 1992).
Montreal’s O’Vertigo Danse featured two
compositions from Crystal Bones in En Dedans, 1998. Ontario’s Motus O
Dance Theatre began using Glass Triangle in The Little Prince, 2000.
In
2002 Barry contributed to the Nicholas Longstaff soundtrack for a video
adaptation of Mavor Moore’s The Store purchased by CBC and WTVN.
Barry
and Janice presented new compositions in collaboration with Butoh
artist Wilson Chik Wai Chi (Hong Kong) at Harbourfront, Toronto and the
Tree Museum, Muskoka ON, Sept 2002. Premier of Bamboo Quiver.
Barry
& Janice performed a version of the Bamboo Quiver piece at the Older & Reckless Dance Series April 23 & 24, 2004.
An
excerpt from the recording White Desert Blue Shadows by Michael Reinhart
& Barry Prophet was included in the sound track for the documentary
Unakuluk, Dear Little One in 2005.
Barry created and performed
live sound art for Maxine Hepner/Across Oceans dance production of
Krima! at Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 3 shows March 1/09 and
Hamilton community performances, March 8/09 at Downtown Arts Centre.
International
Dance Day May 2, 2010 at Yonge/Dundas Square produced by Dance Umbrella
of Ontario. Sounds from the Sound Booth Project were used in the sound
art recordings created by Barry Prophet for two pieces choreographed by
Janice Pomer for select students from Pegasus Dance Studio.
Art
Spin performance by Barry Prophet & Janice Pomer in Bellwoods Park
Toronto June 30, 2010. Live sound art/electro-acoustic music performance
by Barry Prophet for Janice Pomer’s performance with the Bamboo Quiver
by Barry Prophet.
Barry Prophet
Music Composition
A series of composition collaborations performed & recorded at the Music Gallery was produced in audiocassette form. Duets with Glass featuring Barry on the Glass Box was released in 1990. Collaborating composing performers included Janice Pomer, Barbara Morrison, David Jaeger & David Prentice.
Barry and Janice launched their CD Crystal Bones at the month long Pekao Gallery retrospective exhibition of Barry’s sound sculptures including the premier of Sonic Hereafter, Nov. 1997. Co-composing performers on the CD were Ben Grossman, David Jaeger, Barbara Morrison & Janice Pomer.
Barry premiered new compositions at the Music Gallery, Nov. 2000 and at Music Umbrella, with the ensemble Post Medieval Syndrome, Feb. 2001.
In May 2002 Barry and Janice premiered ten new works at the Music Gallery with John Gzowski on guitar & electric dowel, Catherine Keenan on hurdy gurdy, with support from the Laidlaw Foundation (Prophet gently blows the doors off our settled notions of timbre and tonality. Globe and Mail, Robert Everett-Green, Critic’s Choice May 2002).
A solo exhibition of Barry’s sound sculptures was displayed at the Canadian Sculpture Centre Toronto, Aug. 20 to Sept. 13, 2002 with Barry and Janice providing two performances each week.
Barry & Janice performed Tales of Sonic Wonder III to school groups at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre August 2002 and performed it as part of the Fresh Ears family concert series at the Music Gallery, March 2003.
Barry performed on Michael Grey’s CD nine blasted notes, released in the Fall 2003.
Ricks Sacks performed with Barry in October 2003 in the Inventors & Innovators portion of Free Lunch Music, a series of free lunch time concerts at the Music Gallery.
Barry & Janice performed Tales of Sonic Wonder III at the Mississauga International Children's Festival June 2004. Barry also performed on his Revolving Tone Door with Rick Sacks at the same festival.
Barry & Janice performed a site-specific version of Site & Sound for Sound Travels August 2004, New Adventures in Sound Art.
Barry Prophet and William Beauvais presented new works for percussion, electro-acoustics and guitar on February 2, 2005 at the Music Gallery, FLM Inventors & Innovators Series.
Barry performed compositions with Darren Copeland March 2, 2005 and with Jim Montgomery at the Music Gallery on April 13, 2005 as part of FLM series finale.
Barry performed real-time compositions live to air on CKLN for Art’s Birthday celebration in January 2006 and for New Adventures in Sound Art’s Deep Wireless Festival in May 2006.
Barry composed an original music and sound art CD for Janice Pomer’s book Dance Composition: An Interrelated Arts Approach published by Human Kinetics USA, 2009.
Barry performed two co-compositions with guitarist William Beauvais released on William's CD Invisible Cities, Centrediscs 2009.
Sound Art
In July 2002 Barry’s sound art composition Transparent Prescience was featured in Sign Waves-Phase One Toronto, curated by Darren Copeland and Nicholas Longstaff.
On October 21 2006 Barry's integrated arts installation Dwellings and Incursions opened at Rail's End Gallery (Haliburtion, ON). The exhibit featured rattan sculptures, mono-prints, sound art and video/media art. During the same four weeks the Haliburton Sculpture Forest presented Barry's outdoor installation Alatus Rising which opened with a music/movement performance event by Barry and dancer/choreographer Janice Pomer. OAC Exhibition Assistance.
The Medium is the Method, Explorations in Sound Sculpture, Working with Water project received research and development support from the Integrated Arts section of the Ontario Arts Council 2008.
Dwellings & Incursions: Natural Selection & Community the Artist’s Photographic Book & Sound Art CD project received research and development support from the Multi-Arts section of the Ontario Arts Council 2008.
Nuit Blanche Oct. 2, 2010: part of Intimate Music curated by John Oswald produced by the Canadian Music Centre 20 St. Joseph St. Toronto. Live sound art/electro-acoustic music performance by Barry Prophet including sounds from the Sound Booth Project.
Post Apocolyptic Belfry (solo music and sound art by Barry Prophet) as part of Nuit Blanche curated by Rose Bolton & produced by the Canadian Music Centre 20 St. Joseph St. Toronto. Oct.1, 2011.
Array Session #13 at 60 Atlantic Ave Toronto June 4, 2012. Barry performed improvised electro-acoustic contributions using laptop virtual instruments, sound art bed-tracks, HandSonic and WaveDrum synthesizers.
Barry Prophet performed Electro-acoustic/Sound Art on Oct.16 2012 at Musideum 401 Richmond St.W. Toronto. Improvising and performing original compositions on his glass lithophones, percussion synthesizers, virtual instruments and sound art, Barry Prophet offered an evening of works drawn from projects he had been working on for the past four years. Dwellings & Incursions, The Medium is the Method:Working w/Water, Sound Booth and Chain Reaction projects informed the content and aesthetic of the evening. Barry's signature percussion instruments, "glass lithophones", brought a microtonal resonance to a broad spectrum of sound art and rhythmic architectures.
Barry performs in the improvisation duo Cyclic Dream with Bryant Didier. Their work can be heard at soundcloud.com/cyclic-dream Sound Art & Music created by Barry on mobile devices can be found at soundcloud.com/mobilesoundart
Photos by Ben Grossman, Janice Pomer
& Barry Prophet
