Music: The Sound Nest

Produced by That’s Life in collaboration with artist Jane Cassidy, The Sound Nest is an interactive music-making experience set within stunning, synchronized visual projections.

Designed for inclusivity, The Sound Nest allows groups to create harmonious music together performing on color-coded instruments called sound nests, in response to an animated musical score. The music and visuals were co-created over a year with participants with intellectual disabilities attending That’s Life arts programmes.

Five individuals can come together and, with minimal instruction, engage in an inspiring, shared music-making session. A projection of an animated graphic score guides participants through an intuitive, game-like interaction, synchronizing their actions to the rhythm of coloured balls moving toward them. By following the animated projections, participants creating a harmonious shared musical experience, without having to know how to read a traditional musical score.

The music for this installation was co-composed by individuals with intellectual disabilities, who played a central role in the creative process. Over the course of a year, the group met weekly to develop the pieces featured in the installation.

Surrounding the performance area, an immersive projected experience was created where bright colourful projections are synchronized to the music. The imagery for the installation was created by art-makers with intellectual disabilities during stop-motion animation workshops led by Jane Cassidy. These classes gave participants the opportunity to add a deeply personal and artistic dimension to the installation.

For more information, visit galwayartscentre.ie

Jane Cassidy is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator from Galway. Her work spans installation, video, music composition and electronics to create immersive audio-visual environments. Her main interest lies in multi-sensory work and creating a sense of synesthesia for the viewer, most often in response to the mysticism of nature.

That’s Life is an award-winning arts and personal development program of the Brothers of Charity Services Galway, who offer opportunities for people with intellectual disability to discover and realise their artistic potential. Working with established artists and organisations, they create beautiful work that contributes to the cultural and artistic life of their community.