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RECENT NEWS ITEMS
ConstellationCenter Team Members to attend symposium marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Ballet Russes
In April, two members of the ConstellationCenter team, librarian Susan Cole and researcher Erin Doherty, will be attending a symposium and exhibition at the Harvard Theatre Collection at Harvard University.
The symposium, entitled “Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: Twenty Years that Changed the World of Art,” will be an exciting three day event marking the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Ballets Russes in Paris. The symposium will bring together experts from a diverse group of specialties to discuss and pay tribute to Diaghilev’s legacy. This will be an exciting opportunity for ConstellationCenter to interact with the arts community in Boston, and also to experience the type of programming that we hope will ultimately take place at ConstellationCenter.
For more information on the exhibition and symposium, visit the symposium website.
ConstellationCenter Researcher to present at Medieval Studies Congress on Musical Objectives in Medieval Church Architecture
ConstellationCenter Liturgy and Sacred Music Advisor, Rachel Nelson, will present a paper at the 44th International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo on May 9, 2009 entitled “The Sound of Heaven: Some Musical Objectives of Medieval Church Architecture.” Drawing on acoustical studies of extant medieval choir boxes carried out by ConstellationCenter, the paper will examine the ways in which musical considerations influenced the design of medieval choir boxes and the acoustics of particular structures correlate with the type of chant performed there. It will also address ways in which the sound environment of the choir boxes was developed to create or at least reinforce the experience of having been transported to the heavenly realm and other ways in which the musical aspects of medieval churches teaches us about the spirituality and theology of those who built them and worshiped there. The International Congress on Medieval Studies is an annual gathering of over 3,000 scholars from different disciplines interested in medieval studies.
For more information on the Congress and to view the program schedule please visit the Congress website.
Released by Loft Recordings: The Bach Organ of Störmthal: Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) with William Porter, organ
ConstellationCenter, in preparation for building an historically reproduced Bach-style organ for the Great Hall, planned a study of the few remaining extant organs by the great 18th century organbuilder, Zacharias Hildebrandt. Our research took us to the towns of Langhennersdorf, Dresden, Naumburg and Störmthal, Germany.
The organ at Störmthal, despite its diminutive size—it has only one manual—has a particularly high variety and quality of tone, earning it the life-long respect of J.S. Bach. Its beautiful qualities led us to make this recording with world-renowned organist William Porter. Mr. Porter, currently on the faculty of Eastman School of Music and McGill University, has also held positions at Oberlin and the New England Conservatory, and was director of music at Yale Divinity School. He has played at organ festivals all over the world.
We believe that this recording is the first CD made of the Störmthal organ. You may purchase the CD from the Gothic Catalog, www.gothic-catalog.com.
New staff join ConstellationCenter team in Cambridge office
ConstellationCenter has welcomed two new staff members to our Cambridge offices: Donald J. Hannan III as Director of Major Gifts and Corporate Giving and Erin Doherty, Researcher - Special Projects.
Donald J. Hannan III, Director of Major Gifts & Corporative Giving
Born and reared in Tucson, Arizona, Donald attended the University of Arizona on full scholarship. He graduated with honors and began his studies at Yale Divinity School in 1981. There, he was nominated for a Rockefeller Fellowship for Theological Study. During his Yale years, Donald was elected as a Yale Graduate Fellow at Jonathan Edwards College. He worked with Bishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, forging an international program of theological exchange and study between and the Episcopal seminary at Yale and the Episcopal Seminary at Rhoades University (the only inter-racial housing facility in South Africa at that time).
Ordained in 1984, Donald spent 20 years as an Episcopal Priest. An addition to his responsibilities as parish rector, he taught religion and philosophy at Loomis Chaffee School and served as founder of The Center for Spirituality and Health at Seabury in Bloomfield, Connecticut. In addition, Donald has served on numerous boards, including the American Red Cross, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and The Intermezzo Foundation.
His interests in the arts have been long-standing. An active participant and supporter of the Institute for Sacred Music at Yale, Don has also helped The Intermezzo Foundation grow into a premier operatic training and management organization. This past summer, the first international festival for Intermezzo’s students was held in Bruges. Before coming to ConstellationCenter project, Don was Director of Development for The Intermezzo Foundation and for the Boston Foundation for Sight. Donald lives in Boston and has three wonderful children Tully, Wynne, and Parley.
Erin Doherty, Researcher - Special Projects
Erin, currently a researcher at Constellation Center, is a recent graduate of Wellesley College. While at Wellesley she majored in Russian and French, and completed and defended an honors thesis in Russian literature, entitled “The Subversion of Christian Doctrine in Dostoevsky’s Late Novels.”
While at Wellesley she studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia and Aix-en-Provence, France, and took part in field research at Lake Baikal in Central Siberia. After graduating cum laude from Wellesley, she received a Fulbright Graduate Student grant to undertake a year of research in Russia on the topic of the preservation of museums and historic sites in St. Petersburg and northern Russia.
Following her return from Russia, Erin joined Constellation Center as a researcher of special projects. She is currently conducting original research on Baroque opera sets and eighteenth century orchestral performance spaces in Italy, among other topics.
Acoustician Alban Bassuet presents at Acoustics '08 conference in Paris
ConstellationCenter team member Alban Bassuet from Arup Acoustics presented a paper at the Acoustics’08 Paris conference last week (June 30 through Friday July 4) at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, France. The meeting incorporated the 155th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), as well as a number of other prominent European acoustical associations and is the largest meeting on acoustics to date.
Mr. Bassuet presented research based on his work with ConstellationCenter. His paper presents the analysis of the acoustical measurements conducted in eight renowned Baroque opera houses located in France and Germany. The paper presents the unique qualities of the rooms, illustrates some of the acoustical benefits of eighteenth century opera house design characteristics, discusses some differences in the design approach between the Italian and the French traditions and proposes new perspectives for modern opera house design.
Mr. Bassuet’s participation in this international conference is important for ConstellationCenter, because, as he says, “It is important to make public some of the discoveries we’ve made. None of these rooms have been studied before in such great detail. We have gone beyond the traditional, standard acoustical analysis.” And it is this groundbreaking research that will contribute greatly to the science of acoustics and modern theater design. (July 2008)
Innovative Acoustic Research and Testing Continues
Over the last several years, ConstellationCenter has been taking sound samples of various instruments and voices as part of our extensive research project in acoustics and hall design. Most recently, our acousticians have focused on choral and organ music. In January, we recorded the world-renowned Greek Byzantine Choir singing early liturgical chant, pieces ranging from a third century hymn, to Old Roman and Beneventan chant, to traditional Byzantine chants from the Mt. Athos tradition. In February, we recorded Boston’s own vocal ensemble, Exsultemus, singing excerpts from a rhymed Vespers for the feast of St Louis. And in April, we recorded Organist Maria van Kalken playing a variety of styles of the compositions of J.S. Bach on the organ at Old North Church in Marblehead, MA.
The data collected from these tests is being used primarily to help inform the design of the Great Hall, the largest of our four halls. Our acousticians recorded these musicians in a near-anechoic space, a shielded room designed to attenuate sound waves. This process allows one to sample a sound in its “purest” sense, very dry with none of the natural reverberation of a room. The dry tones are then played back in an acoustic model of the hall, allowing our acousticians to hear what these pieces would sound like if performed in the hall after ConstellationCenter is built.
This unique process is critical to the success of designing a room that not only accommodates, but enhances each of a variety of musical genres. (June 2008)
Archivist Susan Cole presenting paper at SIBMAS 2008 in Glasgow
ConstellationCenter is pleased to announce that Susan Cole, Associate Archivist, will attend and present a paper at the SIBMAS 2008 Conference in Glasgow, Scotland this August. SIBMAS (la Société Internationale des Bibliothèques et des Musées des Arts du Spectacle/ the International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts) is an organization for library and museum professionals involved in the documentation of performing arts from across the world. SIBMAS has held biennial conferences since its founding in 1954.
The conference is being hosted by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and is running concurrently to the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival. Conference participants will also make a special trip to visit the National Galleries of Scotland and attend a dance performance choreographed by Matthew Bourne (Billy Elliott, Swan Lake, and Edward Scissorhands).
This year’s theme is “Capturing the Essence of Performance: The Challenge of Intangible Heritage”. Other papers will address topics including “The Challenge of Intangible Heritage” and “The Raw Materials of Performance”. Susan will present her paper entitled, “Documenting the Ephemerality of Place: the Work of the ConstellationCenter Library and Archives”. Her paper discusses the research completed by the Library to document the often overlooked and underappreciated elements that contribute to a successful performance for both the audience and performer. In particular, the Library’s work in the study of acoustics, lighting design, and auxiliary spaces, like lobbies, coatrooms and restrooms will be highlighted.
For more information on the conference please visit the SIBMAS website and the 2008 Conference website. (June 2008)
Current Use of Future Site for ConstellationCenter
Berry Construction and BioMed Realty Trust are currently using the ConstellationCenter project site (Parcel C) as lay-down space for their building on Parcel B, the site bordered by Athenaeum Street, Second Street, and Linskey Way. Berry and BioMed have an agreement
with ConstellationCenter to use our site until May 2009.
ConstellationCenter has retained the right to do soil testing, acoustic testing and construction mock ups on the site as needed during this time. The May 2009 date was selected because that is when we will need full access to our site to begin preparation and planning for the construction of ConstellationCenter.
Goldberg Magazine Praises ConstellationCenter
Goldberg Magazine, a leading early music publication, featured ConstellationCenter on their website on September 12, 2007. Goldberg lauded the Center as an “ideal architectural dream…which is daily coming closer to reality.” In addition, Goldberg noted that our halls “are being meticulously designed to provide the best acoustics, lighting and sight lines possible, depending on the composition date of the music or drama.” To see the full text of the article, please visit (http://goldbergweb.com/en/news/unitedstates/2007/09/60592.php).
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