USA: New York musician uses Hudson river bridge as a giant instrument

Musician Joseph Bertolozzi is using a Hudson river suspension bridge as a giant musical instrument. Bertolozzi is preparing a score for a live concert he hopes to hold on the bridge with more than 20 other musicians to celebrate the 2009 Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river. New York musician Joseph Bertolozzi used a Hudson river suspension bridge , in Kingston, New York as a giant musical instrument on Monday July 25) Bertolozzi is preparing a score for a live concert he hopes to hold on the bridge with 24 other musicians to celebrate the 2009 Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river. Bertolozzi gathers sound by using a combination of wooden sticks, and rubber and metal mallets he bangs against the cables, railings, spindles and other parts of the bridge. "In order to play the bridge, we're gonna be using different kinds of mallets...and just playing it like a large percussion instrument, just like a big xylophone," he said. The sounds are recorded using microphones that are attached to the surface which are then mixed and recorded on a computer by his sound engineer Ron Kuhnke. Passersby seem surprised by the recent activity. "Everybody that drives by you know, thinks we're all nuts, of course. Because it looks a little, different, a little off the wall, so people have a lot of questions," said Rick Warr one of the bridge workers who was recruited to help Bertolozzi reach more dangerous parts of the bridge. The New York State Bridge Authority has authorized the use of the bridge to Bertolozzi for the project. "The project's been a really fascinating experience. Joe came back to our board of commissioners, which ultimately makes all the decisions, last October, November, and had a demo tape of some of his early experimentation and it was fascinating. It was real music and it sounded very impressive," said John Bellucci, the director of public relations and planning for the authority. Bertolozzi is currently seeking sponsors for the event, called Bridge Music, which he estimates will cost 1.8 million US Dollars.

ITN Source | August 2, 2007

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