WXXI radio host Mona Seghatoleslami, a member of fivebyfive’s advisory board and a copresenter of the June 6 event, says that “Tuning Meditation” online is “this thing that actually can give you chills, even though you’re standing there alone in your room with your computer.” As uncommon a work as “Tuning Meditation” is, there’s a precedent for performing it online during the pandemic. In April 2020, the Chicago-based International Contemporary Ensemble led about 600 people in “The World Wide Tuning Meditation.” Fivebyfive’s “Composer Chat” series began in February and was designed to highlight the voices of underrepresented composers — particularly women and people of color such as Pamela Z, Sungmin Shin, Sophie Stone, Anthony R. Green, and Miguel del Aguila. But a vital aspect of the series has been its use of technology to bring people together at a time when live concerts had until very recently been impossible to stage. Lentz figures previous “Composer Chat” events
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on Zoom drew between 30 and 40 people. “One thing we wanted to do was to invite people to actually really be a part of music-making with us,” Lentz says. “And Pauline Oliveros’s piece ‘Tuning Meditation’ is probably her most inclusive composition.” Performing “Tuning Meditation” over Zoom is not the same as in person. But Lentz says it allows for a shared experience with people outside of Rochester and around the world and hopes the performance can be a poignant reminder of the need to connect with each other.
‘TUNE’ IN: “Tuning Meditation” is scheduled for June 6 at 1:30 p.m. via Zoom. Anyone wanting to participate can register at fivebyfivemusic.com. The event will also be available via livestream on fivebyfive’s Facebook page and its website, and available for later viewing on the ensemble’s YouTube page.
