Otoacoustic Emmisions

Details

Bring your non-percussive instrument (anything but drums and piano. Voice and synths encouraged), or just listen in the audience and join a candlelit Halloween sonic meditation that will have you lose your concept of time and place solely through sound. No preparation or skill pre-requisite required. Musicians arrive 7pm for instruction please, and wear all black (tshirt ok), and a hood if you have one. Reception before and after.

The annual Otoacoustic Emissions on Halloween night originated in 2008 as a commission from the Sollentuna Kyrka in Sweden, a 12th century church outside of Stockholm. The music, consisting of drones on the harmonic series, was arranged for 2 organs, electronic sound, choir, fire, and masked devils. The church is surrounded by ancient graves, and the townspeople arrived on All Souls Day eve to meditate on life and death. The dynamics surge from very soft to deafeningly loud, and back down to soft again - the drones are present before the audience arrives and after they leave. Performances are around 75 min. or longer. The atmosphere is dark, candle-lit, incense-thick, and meditative. The event has been performed annually at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Tempe, AZ from 2009-2019.

review by Ashley Naftule

Composed by Jacob Adler and brought to San Francisco since 2021 by Eddie Virtgaym

Event Host

Dream Arenas