Uplift with the Untitled Ensemble
Project Details!
The Untitled Ensemble is collaborating with the George Chuvalo Neighbourhood Centre (GCNC) to bring a hybrid in-person and digital performance to community members. As part of the preparation for the performance, JackTrip low-latency software will be introduced to all members of the Untitled Ensemble by Elizabeth Brown via individual and group zoom meetings and used to allow for rehearsal while Toronto continues to have COVID-19 protocols in place that prevent gathering in person for rehearsal.
Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) will be used to stream 2 performances through YouTube’s livestream capabilities, and presented in embedded form on the GCNC webpage. In the event that the COVID protocols do not allow an in person performance at GCNC, the broadcast capabilities of Jacktrip software will be explored to allow musicians to play together and stream the combined audio along with zoom video.
The Untitled Ensemble is a musician led chamber music group devoted to performing historically underrepresented and racially minoritized works with an emphasis on works by womxn and nonbinary composers. Formed just prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Untitled Ensemble is composed of 9 members at present and is always open to auditioning more members with no upwards maximum.
This novel format for a chamber ensemble was created by Artistic Director Elizabeth Brown to enable the ensemble to play a wider variety of smaller works with differing instrumentation and to create a space for freelance orchestral musicians to play and perform chamber music. When COVID-19 regulations created barriers to even outdoor rehearsal, Ms. Brown began to explore the possibilities of JackTrip, a low-latency software developed by Stanford
University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). As part of this exploration, the Untitled Ensemble hosts sometimes-monthly chamber music reading sessions open to the public using the JackTrip software.
The collaboration with the GCNC will allow a larger group of viewers from the community to become familiar with the Untitled Ensemble and its aims, and lead to a larger online and local audience. Director of Operations for the GCNC Julia Gonsalves has generously offered to present materials on the composers featured in our livestream performances to the children participating in summer camps and activities at the GCNC who will be able to view the livestream performance.
