Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK:
IJAMS NATURE CENTER

Learn More & Download SOUNDWALK App

“SOUNDWALK is an intimate project. It’s about introspection and taking time alone with your thoughts while connecting with nature. This special installation for Big Ears features one of my favorite ensembles, the Kronos Quartet—I’ve been inspired by them since I was a teenager, so this is truly a homecoming on many levels, and a celebration of the natural beauty of East Tennessee that was the backdrop of my childhood.”
—Ellen Reid

Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK is a free, GPS-enabled work of public art that uses music to illuminate the natural environment of Ijams Nature Center. Created by composer and sound artist Ellen Reid—2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music winner and Oak Ridge native—the work consists of music composed by Reid specifically for the project, recorded by her own all-star ensemble, as well as the renowned Kronos Quartet. Accessible on your smart phone by downloading a free app, the work uses GPS to unfold and transform as a listener wearing headphones walks through Ijams’ network of trails.

SOUNDWALK consists of musical cells, carefully crafted by the composer to harmonize with the surrounding landscape, with surprises—musical “Easter eggs”—hidden within to accentuate some of the special features of the nature center. The choice of paths and the pace at which they are explored determine the music each listener hears, ensuring that no two visits are ever quite the same.

SOUNDWALK can be experienced while following social distancing guidelines and will be available free of charge to visitors of Ijams Nature Center through 2022.

Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK is made possible by the generous support of the Aslan Foundation.

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TO USE SOUNDWALK:
1) Download and install the free SOUNDWALK app to your mobile device (DOWNLOAD LINK)
2) Open the app from your mobile device, select the Ijams Nature Center soundwalk, and download the walk
3) Put on your headphones
4) Press ’start’
5) Explore

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How to use the Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK app from Eclipse Projects on Vimeo.

Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK – Public Parks from Eclipse Projects on Vimeo.

PRESS & MORE INFO
Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK website
Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK on NPR
Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK in Los Angeles Times
Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK in The New York Times
Kronos Quartet website
Ijams Nature Center website

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CREDITS
Ellen Reid, Composer and Sound Designer

Presented in Knoxville, TN by Big Ears

Eclipse Projects – Producer
ECHOES.XYZ – App Design and Development
Playtime Studio, Los Angeles – Art
Daniel Neumann – Audio Engineer
Nadia Sirota – Remote Recording Producer

Music performed by:

Kronos Quartet:
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Sunny Yang, cello

SOUNDWALK Ensemble:
Alex Sopp, flute
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Rachel Drehmann, horn
Riley Mulherkar, trumpet
Sidney Hopson, percussion
Kyle Poole, drums
Ashley Jackson, harp
Mathis Picard, piano
Ellen Reid, synthesizer
Eliza Bagg, voice
Mona Tian, violin
Nadia Sirota, viola
Gabriel Cabezas, cello
Russell Hall, bass

Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK was co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Mann Center for the Performing Arts in association with Fairmount Park Conservancy, and the Britt Festival Orchestra.

Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK is made possible in part by the support of Mindscapes, Wellcome’s international cultural program about mental health.

Funds in support of Big Ears: Ijams Nature Center presentation provided by the Aslan Foundation.

Kronos Quartet appears courtesy of Kronos Performing Arts Association
Janet Cowperthwaite, Executive Director
Mason Dille, Dana Dizon, Sarah Donahue, Reshena Liao, Kären Nagy

Ellen Reid Music (ASCAP) Worldwide rights administered by Soundrights Music (ASCAP), a division of Modern Works Music Publishing

All music ©2020-2021 Ellen Reid