Bridge Music

History

One of composer Joseph Bertolozzi's most well known undertakings, the Bridge Music project uses only the sounds of New York's Mid-Hudson Bridge to play the bridge like a musical instrument. The work was completed in time for New York's 400th anniversary observance of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river that now bears his name, but was underway as early as 2004. Originally intended to be a live performance piece (circa 2006), this "audacious plan" (New York Times) to compose music for a suspension bridge using the bridge itself as the instrument brought Bertolozzi wide local and international attention. When funding fell through for a live performance, Bertolozzi took the audio samples he had used to compose his works for the bridge, and used them to put together a studio album. The installation features audio from the album, and allows listeners to hear the project on the bridge itself. In 2016, a documentary film by Andrew Porter captured "Bridge Music" and its back-story.

Bertolozzi later began working on creating a similar project to have a group of live percussionists play the Eiffel Tower. That project changed into what is now Tower Music.

Installation

Bridge Music exists as a free public audio installation on the bridge itself and in nearby parks. The Bridge Music Listening Stations are located on the pedestrian sidewalk of the Mid Hudson Bridge, at each of the bridge's towers. They are open dawn to dusk from April 1 through October 31. Additionally, Park Radios on 95.3FM play the same music year-round, 24/7 in Waryas Park, Poughkeepsie and Johnson-Iorio Park, Highland.

Album

Released in 2009, the CD Bridge Music (on the Delos label DE1045) entered the Billboard Classical Crossover Music Chart at #18, and has been released globally. Justin Patrick, writing for music site Brainwashed, called the Bridge Music CD "a fun album. It takes a high art concept and makes it playful."

References

• Associated Press (18 July 2006). "Composer turns Hudson River bridge into a musical instrument."
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• Farnsworth, Amy (16 June 2009). "Notes on a Bridge." Christian Science Monitor (Boston).
• I Love New York: The Beat (7 April 2009). " 'Bridge Music' Unique Quad Event, Premieres in Poughkeepsie & Highland."
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• New York Times Video (28 June 2007). "Celebrating The Bridge."
• Schultz, Bridget (20 November 2009). "Joseph Bertolozzi makes a bridge sing." Hudson Valley Life Magazine (New York).

References

1. [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/comparing_notes/archive/2007/07/its_all_in_the.shtml Young, Alison (1 July 2007). "It's all in the ears of the beholder."] {{webarchive. link. (8 June 2011 , Minnesota Public Radio (Minnesota).)
2. [https://www.reuters.com/resources/flash/includevideo.swf?edition=US&videoId=61999 "Reuters Video: Hudson River Bridge Used For Music."], Reuters.
3. "New York State Bridge Authority Mid Hudson Bridge Page". Nysba.net.
4. "Composer - Bridge Music - Global Press". Joseph Bertolozzi.
5. (2010-01-04). "Mid-Hudson Bridge makes music - YNN, Your News Now". Hudsonvalley.ynn.com.
6. link. (August 9, 2009)
7. (2016-06-16). "NEW DOCUMENTARY ON BRIDGE MUSIC".
8. "Bridge Music - Short Documentary".
9. (2016-11-18). "'Bridge Music' film focuses on world's largest percussion instrument".
10. "(12 April 2010). "Musician Hammering Out Deal to Play Eiffel Tower."". AOL News.
11. (2010-04-16). "HV Echo Blog (16 April 2010). "Local Composer Plans Musical Project of Towering Proportions."". Hvecho.com.
12. Wakin, Daniel J.. (2010-07-08). "New York Times ArtsBeat Blog (8 July 2010). "After Music From a Bridge, Why Not a Tower?"". Artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com.
13. De La Baume, Maia. (2013-06-04). "New York Times - Arts: Music (5 June 2013). "That Instrument Known as the Eiffel Tower."". The New York Times.
14. (2011-04-05). "Joseph Bertolozzi - Eiffel Tower Music".
15. [http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/traffic-jams-extracting-music-from-a-bridge Wakin, Daniel J (19 March 2009). "Traffic Jams: Extracting Music From a Bridge."], New York Times ArtsBeat.
16. [http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2009/3/Music/Take-it-to-the-Bridge Aaron, Peter (27 February 2009). "Take It To The Bridge."], ''Chronogram'' (New York).
17. [http://www.hereandnow.org/media-player/?url=http://www.hereandnow.org/2009/06/rundown-63/&title=Bridge%20Music&segment=6&pubdate=2009-06-03 "Rundown 6/3: Bridge Music (3 June 2009)."], WBUR Boston Public Radio (Boston).
18. [http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/August-2009/August-2009-On-the-Town/index.php?mode=popup&cp=2&view=slideshow&play=1&pagemoduleid=34969&si=1#galleryanc "On The Town (August 2009)."], Hudson Valley Magazine (New York).
19. (February 2012)
20. "Amazon.co.jp： Bridge Music: J. Bertolozzi: 音楽". Amazon.co.jp.
21. (2010-01-17). "Joseph Bertolozzi, "Bridge Music"". Brainwashed.