Concerts Under the Stars to begin in January Chaffee Planetarium

grpm_planetarium_0054The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) is launching a new series – Concerts Under the Stars – in the Chaffee Planetarium in 2017. Visitors will enjoy this brand new program featuring a fully immersive audio and visual experience. Live concerts begin on Jan. 19, and will be held monthly through April 2017. Visitors can sit back and experience the wonder of the cosmos and the wonder of music to electronic, folk, funk and jazz inspired local music acts.

 

The first concert in the series on Jan. 19 will feature electronic and house music by Joshua Tree. His music is described as contemplative yet provocative analog electronic movements in the classic techno/IDM style.

 

Tree is an electronic music artist originally hailing from Metro Detroit who has been living and working in West Michigan for nearly 15 years. His strict demand for high audio quality has led him to choose synthesizers, creating a semi-modular live rig which includes the unmistakable deep bass sounds of the Moog Voyager RME monosynth, the inordinately deep and complex Prophet 12 polysynthesizer by Dave Smith Instruments and the handcrafted pure analog Vermona DRM1 MK3 drum machine. The results are ethereal, pulsating movements that evolve organically according Joshua’s strict techno aesthetic. He will be composing, arranging and performing a completely original and unique set of works for his performance Jan. 19 at the Chaffee Planetarium.

 

The January concert will also feature visuals by Nate Eizenga. For the past decade, Eizenga has been fascinated by performances that use visual imagery to enhance the experience of live music. Frustrated with preprocessed, press-play videos, he taught himself to mix and manipulate video in real-time, finally playing his first live show with musician Darkly in early November 2015. Since then he has continued to refine his craft, playing alongside Darkly as well as DJs from Rocksteady Disco, FourFour SoundSystem and Vinyl Fetish. Possessing both musical synchronization and artistic spontaneity, his work is guaranteed to mesmerize even the most reserved viewers.

 

“This will be a brand new use for the planetarium, mixing together live music and visuals for a totally different type of program,” said Kate Moore, VP of Marketing and PR for the GRPM. “We have never done anything like this before, and this is an experience our guests will not get at a typical concert venue. It is our hope that the artists selected for this first series will appeal to a diverse audience, and we are especially thrilled be bringing in local artists to showcase their talents.”

 

Concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments, beer and other beverages will be available for purchase.

 

Tickets are $10 for GRPM members, $12 for non-members if purchased in advance, and $15 for non-members on the day of the concert.  Tickets are currently on sale at grpm.org, by calling 616-929-1700 or at the Museum’s front desk.

 

The 2017 Concerts Under the Stars Series will continue on Feb. 9 with funk music by Janga, March 16 with jazz inspired electronic by Mishigami, and on April 6 with folk music by Emma Loo and Sam.

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