chatterbird is partnering with aerial and contemporary ballet company FALL for their latest collaborative performance. A Bending of Its Own Kind is a dance performance piece created by FALL Artistic Director Rebekah Hampton Barger about her experience with severe scoliosis and chronic pain. Since 2017, “Bending” has expanded to include the stories of other individuals living with chronic pain, seeking ways to provide resources and community connection. 

chatterbird has partnered with FALL on a new expansion of this project entitled Aspiration, which explores the connections between hope and breath, and what each of those means in the face of living with a chronic condition.

The concert will be presented at Emerson Hall on Sunday, May 19, at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available on a sliding scale basis and can be purchased here. More information on the concert, including parking details, are also available at that link.

The music and movement for this piece have been developed separately, with both choreographer and composers drawing inspiration from a discussion between five individuals who each live with a form of hypermobility disorder, along with several other comorbidities. During this performance, the composers will perform a structured improvisation alongside the dancers, and the performance will be captured and incorporated into a full-length performance of A Bending Of Its Own Kind on June 1 and 2 in Knoxville, TN, hosted by Dragonfly Aerial Arts and Circus Studio.

For more information on the project, visit FALLdance.org.

Join chatterbird for an evening of music featuring electronic musician/composer/vocalist Dream Chambers. The Blossoming will take place November 30 at 7:30 PM, at Emerson Hall, in East Nashville. Tickets are available HERE.

This cross-collaborative concert experience features seven brand-new arrangements of songs written for modular synthesizer, voice, and ensemble. The works explore expanding patterns of rhythm and melody supported by pastoral classical instrumentation to express a search for inner harmony in the natural and mystical world around us.

Dream Chambers’ songwriting combines influences across the musical spectrum – from folk songs to ambient soundscapes to hard-hitting techno dance tracks. The featured songs feature repetition and melody that interplay with the ethereal, drifting sounds of modular synths and vocals. Synced and layered patterns of melody surround soft and urgent vocals, while poignant and heartfelt lyrics are grounded by heavy analog bass and granular synthesis. Arranger Sonya Waters then created orchestral scores for the works that are inspired by the patterning of contemporary and minimalist composers.

“Synthesizers to me sound like the infinitely expanding universe; they are otherworldly. In combination with acoustic instruments such as flute, clarinet, harp, cello, viola, and violin, we have created a magical sonic interplay of galactic and earthly tones,” said Jess Chambers, the performer behind Dream Chambers.

Tickets are offered on a pay-your-wage basis. Pay-your-wage is a progressive, honor-system based sliding scale admission model for live events. The notion: pay what you make in an hour. With this model, artistic revenue rises as average wages rise, but performances remain accesible and affordable for all.

Parking Note: Limited parking is available behind Emerson Hall. You can park in any space that DOES NOT say ‘Hotel Guest Parking Only.’ For your convenience, Emerson has arranged for additional parking availability at the Walgreens and CVS locations on either side of the venue. After parking, head to the front door of Emerson Hall on Gallatin Pike to enter the venue. Using a rideshare like Lyft/Uber or carpooling is also encouraged!

ABOUT DREAM CHAMBERS, guest artist: Jess Chambers is a vocalist, instrumentalist, and songwriter who performs as Dream Chambers. Her sound – created using a mass of modular synthesizers, sequencers, and vocal processors – counterpoints heavy sub-bass with crystalline granular vocal samples and shimmering analog arpeggios. Born in Aotearoa/New Zealand to an American mother and Kiwi father, Chambers initially was known for her delicately orchestrated folk albums and her vocal collaborations with local electronic music producers. In 2012, drawn to the legendary Americana music scene, Jess relocated to Nashville, where she encountered a vibrant and welcoming underground electronic music scene and began a transformative journey into the world of synthesizers and music technology.

ABOUT SONYA WATERS, arranger: Sonya Waters is a solo synth artist playing soundtracks for imaginary mid-century films. Her music is underpinned by lush layers of synth orchestration crisscrossed with tessellations of West Coast Moog and vocoder vocals. Waters has performed with different bands and explored several musical pathways over her long career, including ambient music, krautrock project avoid!avoid, alt-country band White Swan Black Swan, indie rock Fang, San Francisco shoegaze group Orange, and punk band The Instigators.