Ian Ethan Case: Portals | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

Ian Ethan Case: Portals

Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 8pm, ALL presents Ian Ethan Case: Portals. Brand new for Fall 2018, Case's latest live project expands on that creativity in the form of his “Photon Symphony”; an intricate system of synchronized projections which enable a large cast of musicians to virtually join him on stage in a unique blend of virtual reality and live performance.

Tickets $12 online in advance at https://caseportals.bpt.me or $15 at the door. Online sales end 1 hour before the show. Doors open at 7:30.

Inspired in part by his many performances in the Boston Museum of Science planetarium, the PORTALS project was primarily born out of Case’s newest album “Earth Suite”, which features twelve musicians from all over the globe and combines elements of arabic, flamenco, jazz, classical, and brazilian music with the energetic minimalism and rhythmic sophistication Case is becoming known for. “A lot of the musicians on the album, and really a lot of musicians today period, are simply not in a position to go on tour for several months at a time, and even if they were, we’re just not at a level yet where we could afford to bring 12 musicians on the road. But I really wanted people to hear these incredibly unique, one-of-a-kind instrumentalists, and I also really want people to hear these songs the way they’re meant to be heard, with the full orchestration.”

Case’s wife, live sound and electronics specialist Stephanie Case, has for years played a crucial role in bringing to life concerts that, in terms of scope, significantly exceed expectations for a solo performance. “For the past several years we’ve really tried to stretch the solo format as far as possible, and Stephanie has taken live looping and live sound design to the next level in an effort to communicate these songs as fully as we could. But the newer songs really demand the unique qualities of the specific musicians on the album, and we were hungry to break out of the looping box entirely. The constraints we were faced with ended up leading us to this whole new concept for what a live concert experience can be.”

Ian Ethan Case

Acoustic double-neck guitarist and Candyrat recording artist Ian Ethan Case is quickly becoming recognized as “one of the most creative and engaging fingerstyle guitarists in the world” (International Center for Creativity.) After a decade of composing and performing around the country largely under the radar, in 2015 a viral facebook video of his song “Butter II” introduced his music to over 6 million listeners around the world in the course of a month. In addition to a record deal and endorsements with companies such as Ovation guitars and Boss pedals, 2016 and 2017 provided extensive touring opportunities throughout Europe and the United States, including two performances with a full symphony orchestra. Fingerstyle legend Don Ross invited Case to open for him in Ross’ then-hometown of Toronto, later describing his performance as “some of the most massively inventive musicianship I’ve ever heard/seen.” Other listeners have described his music as a cross between Michael... Read More

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