L2Ork » Linux Laptop Orchestra

27Sep 2011

L2Ork Goes to the Fair

Posted in Announcements

It’s been a while since we posted anything here. Rest assured, this is not because we’ve somehow forgotten about L2Ork or worse yet given up right when things got really exciting. Rather, the beginning of a semester is always a busy time for everyone involved and this year was no exception. So, to remedy the acute lack of fresh blogs, I am hereby posting a brief but nonetheless exciting announcement about our upcoming visit to the Virginia State fair. From September 29th until October 9th, L2Ork will be manning a booth with promotional materials and demo stations for visitors to explore. On the last two days of the fair (October 8th an 9th) L2Ork will be also performing four concerts on the Fair’s main stage. This will also be the first time the ensemble will require a full-blown PA system as we will be performing on an outdoor stage. Should be fun!

So, if you are in the area, stop by and say hi! :-)

02Jun 2011

There and Back Again

Posted in Tour Blog

Can’t believe we are less than four hours away from home. Currently waiting at Newark airport for our last connection to Charlotte, NC where Michael and Alec will be waiting with two 12-passenger vans to take us back to Virginia Tech (approx. 2.5 hour ride from the airport).

Looking back, it’s been an amazing three weeks full of surprises, twists, turns, curve balls, and stories we all will be retelling for many seasons to come. More importantly, it’s been a tour filled with successful performances.

Last night, we played as part of the closing concert at the international NIME conference in Oslo, a performance that I think was particularly well received. As I write this, my computer is slowly chewing on the video footage which I will be uploading to our YouTube page as soon as it is done.

Yesterday, I also received an email informing me that another interview aired on Croatian National TV (HTV) as part of the e-Hrvatska show covering our performance in Zagreb. You can view the video here.

I would like to use this opportunity to once again sincerely thank our Stakeholders who have generously sponsored this gargantuan undertaking. Likewise, I would like to thank our guest soloists Ron Coulter and Aurora Martin who have been brave (crazy? :-) enough to partake in the tour. I would also like to acknowledge my European Colleagues who have helped me coordinate venue planning, Robin Gareus, Marc Groenewegen, and Martin Kaltenbrunner. Finally, I would like to thank all l2orkists for their selfless contributions and sacrifices that have made this tour possible. Have a great summer all! You’ve definitely deserved it!

25May 2011

Of Hostels, Spam, and Volcanoes

Posted in Tour Blog

It seems the farther we go west, the more “unique” our accomodations are. Our initial Amsterdam hostel was, well… unique indeed. Now that the ensemble has moved to STEIM for the rest of our Amsterdam stay we are hopeful things will improve. Something else I noticed since filling out a couple of those hostel registrations leaving my VT email (call it trying to be honest, or better yet, just plainly naive), my inbox spam has literally quadrupled. And then, there are those pesky Icelandic volcanoes with impossible names, one of which is now causing a bit of a headache due to our pending departure from Oslo scheduled for Thursday next week. Let’s hope that wind takes care of the ash by then so that our return is safe, timely, and uneventful.

Yesterday evening, we held a workshop at STEIM to an enthusiastic audience. Having been given an opportunity to recap the milestones L2Ork has achieved over the past two and a half years made me realize just how far we’ve come.

Tonight, we will be performing at Zaal100 @ 8:30pm, as part of an HKU event. More soon…

22May 2011

Midpoint

Posted in Tour Blog

Eleven days behind us and another eleven to go, today marks the midpoint of the tour. Having performed last night at Hamburg’s Academy of Music and Theater as part of the Blurred Edges Festival, we are using one day to catch-up with sleep and follow-up on outstanding matters. For one, I spent a better part of today producing long overdue L2Ork performance videos. Consequently, we got seven new videos ready out of which four have been already uploaded onto the DISIS YouTube channel. Similarly, we’ve been trying to consolidate tour photos which should be finding their way onto the media and facebook pages hopefully soon. Tomorrow morning, we head to Amsterdam. On the 24th we have a workshop at STEIM, followed by two performances, in Amsterdam on 25th, and Utrecht on 26th. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

19May 2011

Rebound

Posted in Tour Blog

As they say, what does not kill you makes you stronger. With the bout of challenges the ensemble faced over the past few days we approached our next venue in Zagreb’s magnificent Museum of Contemporary Arts (event page) with great caution. And it seems that our preparedness has indeed paid off. Not only did we land a series of interviews, including the nationwide RTL TV (broadcast today as part of the 6:30PM national news, fast-forward to 26:17 on the timeline for our segment) and the Croatian National Radio, but our story also aired in the most unsuspecting places, such as the popular Croatian computer magazine. More so, ensemble’s creative output has been compared to famous artists such as Stockhausen and Cage, as well as Einsturzende Neubauten, something that we’ve found quite flattering. Following the concert, once again the stage was swamped with curious audience members, something that has by now become the staple of our concerts. Needless to mention the event was a great success that has left us all energized and motivated more than ever before.

Tomorrow 11am-3pm, a national radio show titled “Putovi Hrvatske Glazbe” (loosely translated as “Paths of Croatian Music”) will air featuring L2Ork works and an interview, followed by additional broadcasts of various pieces over the next couple of weeks. Similarly, a TV show titled e-Hrvatska (e-Croatia) will in coming days air on the national HTV an interview with excerpts from the performance. We will make sure to keep you posted as soon as we know more. We are also working on editing video footage which we will be posting hopefully soon. In the meantime, to keep up with latest tour developments, join our facebook page. For a media fix, check out David’s L2Ork tour photo journal.

Next stop, May 21st @ 8PM at Hamburg, German, with a performance at the Academy of Music and Theater.