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"Hymn" by Sarah Kraning

My exploration of music took a different track this past week when I attended the 37th Annual Lake Superior Design Retreat (LSDR) sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, Minnesota. 
Held in Duluth in the winter each year, “it is an interdisciplinary and rejuvenating event that explores design ideas and creative processes that push boundaries in the worlds of architecture, planning, engineering, literature, craft, dance, music, the fine arts, the environment and more.” The day-and-a-half retreat took place at Zeitgeist, though at its inception, and for most of its 37-year history, it was held at Fitger’s. 

This was not the first time I’ve attended the gathering of architects and designers but it has been 25 or so years since the last time. This year I found the TED-talk-like seminar to be personally synchronistic – melding my present avocation of music exploration with my earlier design and planning career. Three of the five main presenters talked about their work within the world of music.

Right off the bat attendees heard from Sarah Kraning, a resident of Minneapolis, who told us about her neurological condition “synesthesia” – a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with this condition are called “synesthetes” and it can take many different forms. In her case Kraning perceives sounds as colors and textures. It is estimated that two to four percent of the population have this neurological condition but that among creative types, such as architects, it is conceivably as high as 25 percent.

As a very young child she said she saw sparkles when hearing the chimes of the Disney jingle. The typical response when she shared these experiences was that she was “very imaginative.” Thus by age eight she learned to keep such experiences to herself. And she related how difficult school was for her as when a teacher played music to relax students during tests. 

Later when she learned about synesthesia and that she wasn’t alone, that there was a word to describe what her mind sees, it was a game changer for her. After exploring other career paths, she has transformed herself into an artist who uses her condition to create one-of-a-kind abstract oil paintings that represent what her mind automatically sees when she hears a particular song or recording.

Kraning explained that a certain pitch will always have the same color but that different instruments came to her as particular shapes and textures. For example piano notes are like drops of color while bowed violins tend to take the form of ribbons. She showed photos of her paintings that captured the colors, textures and feelings she experienced when listening to particular songs. 

One I found to be particularly beautiful was titled “Hymn” (“How Great Thou Art”) which she painted for her mother. She also showed a painting of hers that illustrated the contrast between the woodland sounds with its birdsongs she enjoyed as a child with the sounds of a housing development that ravaged those same woods. 

Kraning was asked how she manages to translate a musical piece that may last several minutes (or much longer as with a symphony) into a 2-dimensional painting. She explained that she would listen to a song some 15 to 20 times in order to capture its essence. In the case of a commissioned piece (one for the Jonas Brothers, “Vacation Eyes” for example), she would confer with the musician in identifying a section of the piece that most characterizes it.

Kraning expressed the idea that what she is doing is not that different from what architects do – that both are involved in translating the invisible into the visible. One of the buildings that brought this home to her was the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. When she was there, the paintings by Wassily Kandinsky resonated with her, indicating this might be an artistic path open to her. She left us with this quote by Kandinsky: “…lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting and…stop thinking! Just ask yourself whether the work enabled you to ‘walk about’ into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?” 

The presenter who followed Kraning was Bradley Greenwald of Minneapolis who jokingly described his career  as “freelance freelancer.” He explained how this came about by reviewing his upbringing and the choices he considered at various times in his past that led him to his present work. 

Born in Winnebago – not in a Winnebago RV, but in the Minnesota town of that name – and raised in Fairmont, he was something of an only child since his four siblings were 12 or more years older than he was. He and his mother comprised their household during his formative years, so he felt his options to be fairly limited. Beginning to learn the baritone horn back in elementary school brought music into his life, as did his mother’s love of music. By the time he was in high school he described three choices he had – dropping out of school to work, staying in school and graduating or taking the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student in Germany during his junior year. He chose the latter option and as a result thought he might become a teacher of the German language. To that end he matriculated at the University of Minnesota where he was able to join The Minnesota Marching Band as a baritone horn player.

From there Greenwald described the serendipitous events that shaped his life in music and theater. He developed an interest in classical music, which led him to take voice lessons opening up a world of music and theater for him. 

Spending a summer in New York as a fellow with a Bach Festival was pivotal. In the closing concert he performed the aria “Ich habe genug” with a small chamber ensemble, though he almost walked away from that, feeling he was too young and immature to sing the part of an old man on his death bed. 
Fortunately he was talked into honoring his commitment and challenged with the question “who’s ever ready for anything?” The profundity of that experience made him realize that this is what he truly wanted to do.

Returning to Minneapolis at summer’s end, Greenwald had no definite prospects but within a few days the Minnesota Opera called and asked him to be a part of its national tour of Madama Butterfly. It was then that he gave up the idea of becoming a German teacher and quit school. 

Ever since he’s been at it with a myriad of performing arts organizations: Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Theater Latté Da, the James Sewell Ballet, Illusion Theater, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company and The Jungle Theater, among several others. 

Most recently, on Feb.2, he curated the one-off “Schubert Mixology @ Amsterdam” (a bar in St. Paul) for the Schubert Club. For this unusual performance he had various types of musicians play Schubert pieces in their own style, including the rock group Kiss the Tiger! 

Surely the audience of architects and design professionals were inspired by Greenwald’s ability to push boundaries and think “outside the box” as well as trusting fate to steer him in his fantastic musical and theatrical journey.

Another music-related presentation was by Minneapolitan Kate Buehler-McWilliams who specializes in constructing medieval and Renaissance stringed instruments such as the rebec, viella and citole. 
She discussed the research required to identify the physical characteristics of the instruments, showing their depictions in old tapestries and noting they were sometimes described in ancient manuscripts. A sole extant citole is located in the British Museum which she recreated sans the intricate carving of that historic object. 

Kate Buehler-McWilliams with a "rebec." Photo by Jill Fisher.

The rebec, a pear-shaped instrument that appears to be something like a violin but has just three strings and is carved from a single block of wood. It was the first instrument she attempted to replicate.
Kate played the rebec for the audience, which caused one person to ask why she was holding it in the crook of her arm as opposed to under the chin like a violin. Though at least one illustration of the rebec showed it held like a violin, most others showed it held it in the manner she demonstrated. 

Asked where such instruments are played, she responded they are prevalent at early music festivals that are generally held at colleges. 

Kate Buehler-McWilliams

After the formal lecture, attendees were able to inspect the instruments, which cost in the range of $2,000-$3,000, and learn more about her carving technique. Those who might be interested in these instruments can find information online at unprofitableinstruments.com.

All this year’s LSDR presenters were quite philosophical as they assessed and shared their paths to fulfillment in their creative careers. Near the end of the retreat TV host Mike Rowe was quoted: “Passion is too important to be without but too fickle to be guided by – which is why I’m more inclined to say, ‘Don’t follow your passion, but always bring it with you’.” It would seem this advice is as applicable for musicians as for architects.

The Hot Club of Duluth at the Rathskeller. Photo by Jill Fisher.

Of course I got out to several local music events this past week with the Curmudgeon. This included an outing on Tuesday, March 4, to hear the Hot Club of Duluth at the Rathskeller. It was the perfect place to spend a snowy, blowy evening getting cozy to the wonderful warming sounds of that band. 

On this evening guitarist Jimi Cooper was absent (traveling in Italy!) and a young woman keyboardist, Charlotte Dike, sat in. Her contributions were quite enjoyable, especially on the Fats Waller tune “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

IN MEMORIAM: Our condolences to the family, friends and fans of pianist Paul Vincent Ierino who died on March 3 at age 82. Paul was a long-time jazz musician who was well-known for the weekly jazz sessions he played in for many, many years at the Club Saratoga, and more recently with the Jazz at the Depot quartet. There will be a celebration of life later this year.