Past Performances of The Climate Symphony:Past Performances of The Climate Symphony:Durham, NH: Scientists at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire and computer scientist and composer/percussionist Marty Quinn have collaborated to create a uniquely entertaining and enlightening theatrical presentation of 110,000 years of earth's climate history. 'The Climate Symphony' is based directly on research analysis of the nearly two miles of ice core samples retrieved from the Greenland Ice Sheet over the past decade. As audiences are transported across time, they experience the forces of nature that cause the climate through music. The interdependent play of the geophysical and astronomical cycles of nature weave an intricate and beautiful sonority.
The Climate Symphony integrates the art of music with the science of
glaciology, chemistry, and climatology. The audience is also introduced to the
new science and art of sonification: the transformation of data into music and
sound. Marty Quinn, as creator of the software used to produce 'The Climate
Symphony', explores the frontier of sonification using patterns of music
and drumming and opens the mind to new approaches to perceiving scientific knowledge.
His singular performance as actor, master percussionist, software engineer and
host combine to produce a memorable and enjoyable experience.
The performance is directed by award-winning director and actor Bill George,
known for his one-man play "The Kingfisher's Wing". This is
Quinn's second collaboration with Bill George, who also directed the Quinn Family's
musical theatre production called 'The Seven Valleys'. The production
runs 35 minutes and takes place in a Greenland ice cave.
The ice core samples and data for this performance were gathered between 1989 and 1994 by the US Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) and the European Greenland Ice Core Program (GRIP). The performance premiered at the American Museum of Natural History on April 21,2000 and is available to tour schools and museums throughout the world.
More information about the Climate Change Research Center can be obtained online at http://www.grg.sr.unh.edu/ccrc/.