Discovering the Music of Paintings, with Oliver Prezant and Friends, Featuring the artwork of Mary Vernon

STRATA GALLERY PRESENTS:

Discovering the Music of Paintings, with Oliver Prezant and Friends, Featuring the artwork of Mary Vernon

Strata Gallery presents Discovering the Music of Paintings, an interactive exploration and performance with Oliver Prezant and Friends, featuring the artwork of Mary Vernon and improvising musicians Carla Kountoupes, violin, Jerry Weimer, clarinet, and Katie Harlow, cello. The program will be presented on Saturday, July 9, at 2 p.m. Strata Gallery is located at 418 Cerrillos Road, in the Design Center.

How does a painting sound? How do line and shape, color and texture, mood and compositional relationships translate into music? During the program, arts educator and conductor Oliver Prezant will lead the audience in an interactive visual exploration of one of Mary Vernon’s colorful, imaginative, nine-foot wall paintings. Oliver and the musicians will then use the impressions of the audience and the elements of the painting to create a musical realization of the artwork, using the painting as a musical score.  

“Mary’s a native New Mexican and a great artist,” said Prezant. “Her work rides the line between the figurative and the abstract, and it provides great opportunities for music making. And the gallery space at Strata is perfect for this kind of program, very resonant, and very intimate.”

“Carla, Jerry, and Katie are some of my favorite musicians for this kind of special performance,” he said. “Highly trained, musically flexible, and great improvisers. We’ll be rehearsing, yes, but there’s a good chance that the musicians won’t even see the painting until the day of the performance.”

Strata Gallery is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and the gallery is open from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday – Saturday. For more information about Strata Gallery, this program, the current exhibit, and the future schedule of events, please visit the Strata Gallery website and Instagram.

• Admission to the program is free, and donations are welcome.
• Seating is limited, and registration required.
• Masks and proof of vaccination required at door.
• For more information and registration, please click HERE.