“Personal, political, and playful” to be the theme of Full Circle: Turtle Wisdom, a new composition for gong orchestra by Terry Longshore, combined with the artwork of Betty LaDuke, premiering at ScienceWorks.
Full Circle: Turtle Wisdom by Oregon composer and percussionist Terry Longshore draws its inspiration from his 2021 hour-long composition for large solo gong, This Moment In Time, and renowned artist Betty LaDuke’s series of artworks, Turtle Wisdom. In this 15-minute sonic adventure performed by a gong orchestra, the 30 performers will be students of the SOU Percussion Ensemble and Longshore’s SOU Honors College course, “Making Music.” Each performer will play their own gong and will interpret one of LaDuke’s Turtle Wisdom artworks, guided by a text- and time-based score composed by Longshore. The gongs, ranging in size from 8” to 40”, come from around the world and are capable of a remarkable diversity of sounds. The performance will take place on a special evening event at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum on Friday, November 8, from 6:00-8:00pm. The music performance will happen twice during the evening, at 6:30 and 7:30, each lasting 15 minutes. Exhibits will be open for attendees and admission is free for SOU students and ScienceWorks members, and $10 general.
In Full Circle: Turtle Wisdom, the performers utilize a plethora of implements and techniques to produce a seemingly endless array of sounds from their instruments. Spatialized throughout the performance space, the audience is encircled by sounds of nature, by the gongs’ captivating voices, and by LaDuke’s dynamic artworks. The composition is composed in a way that allows anyone to participate, regardless of musical or percussive experience. A pre-performance workshop provides participants with instruction on performance practice and score interpretation. Longshore states, “the audience will be immersed in the beautiful sounds of the gongs, as well as Betty’s captivating artworks. It will be a feast for the senses!”
LaDuke’s Turtles explore themes of personal, political, and playful nature. Emerging from the pandemic in 2021, LaDuke states that “TURTLES became my symbolic storytellers, commenting on the events currently reshaping our lives.”
The compositional structure of Full Circle: Turtle Wisdom is inspired by the lunar calendar and numerous Indigenous peoples’ belief that turtles' shells symbolize the 13 lunar cycles. The central area of the upper shell (carapace) displays 13 larger scutes, each representing a lunar month. Additionally, the encircling smaller scutes total 28, corresponding to the days in a lunar cycle. The numbers 13 and 28 are used in rhythmic sections of the composition, alternating with more lyrical and textural sections highlighted by the playing techniques.
For more than 60 years, Betty LaDuke has traveled the globe as an artist and activist, taking her sketchbook and camera to villages in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as to remote Papua New Guinea, and Borneo. These experiences inspire the large acrylic paintings, prints, and panels she exhibits in art centers and museums around the world. Fiercely independent, LaDuke rarely puts her work up for sale, believing it should be accessible to all.