Mashing Beats with Beethoven and Bizet

Ludwig van Beethoven might have been rolling over in his grave as classical and opera music met pulsing electronic beats at AcousticaElectronica, a party held at OBERON last Friday. The event was presented by toUch performance art, a collective of artists led by New England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory graduate students, and it will return to OBERON this Friday. A mesmerizing blend of classical and electronic music, AcousticaElectronica featured live instrumentalists playing alongside a set from The WIG, a New York-based DJ who draws inspiration from world music. Professional dancers performed acrobatic and sensual routines as they weaved in and out of the crowd, while event-goers looked on admiringly and did some dancing of their own. The Roving Reporter stopped by to check the freshness of the beats and smoothness of the grooves.

Colin P. Thurmond, producer of AcousticaElectronica and artistic director of toUch performance art

RR: What was your inspiration for putting together such an interesting show?

CPT: This idea came about between two friends and me who met at the New England Conservatory. I mean, we’re the iPod generation—I listen to house and trance all the time, and I wanted to combine that with my traditional training. This event was about putting two worlds together that make no sense together, about the past talking to the present. It’s past, present, and future all at once.

RR: Amazing. What kind of traditional training do you have?

CPT: I’ve been playing classical guitar since I was nine, and I’m currently a doctoral student at the New England Conservatory.

RR: Would you say that you’re a classical music scholar?

CPT: I wouldn’t say I’m specifically a classical music scholar. I’m a music scholar; I don’t think you need to slap a genre on it.

RR: So, would you call yourself a beats scholar?

CPT: Oh, man, I’d never say that in public. I will say that I enjoy feeling the beat.

RR: Don’t we all. How do you think composers like Beethoven and Bizet would have felt about this treatment of their most famous works, “Carmen” and “Moonlight Sonata?”

CPT: I think it falls halfway between sacrilegious and reverent. I think Beethoven would be rocking halls in Germany if he were alive. There is probably a classical audience that would find this abhorrent, and also some [people who] would find it innovative.

RR: Do you feel like maybe that was a bit too much Spandex in the show?

CPT: Can you ever really have too much Spandex?

RR: Touché.

Rich G. Chwastiak a.k.a. The WIG, DJ

RR: What is the inspiration for your work? It’s very interesting what you do, blending classical, traditional elements of music with very modern, electronic performances.

RGC: I’m an instrumentalist first, before I’m a DJ. I try to mix live performance with my show…. To my knowledge, no one else in the world is doing this right now with this technology. I’m always pulling all sorts of different international rhythms into my electronic dance music.

RR: What’s your goal in doing all this?

RGC: I want to reach a mainstream audience as well as those who would listen to classical music. This could bring a whole new crowd to classical music. We’re chopping the songs and remixing and restructuring, and it’s been done before but not to this degree.

RR: What do you think Bach and Beethoven would think if they could see your set?

RGC: I think they would all have an open mind. It might take them five minutes or maybe a good half hour. But once they got used to it, they’d listen and pull out the parts of their songs—like, “There’s my theme; it’s not sonata form, but compositionally it is solid music.” I feel like Beethoven would be a pretty good dancer as well.

RR: But Beethoven was deaf.

RGC: Oh, yeah, you’re right. He probably wouldn’t have known what was going on.

Vladislav V. Skobelev and Yuriy Horokhivskyy, attendees

RR: How are you two enjoying the show?

VVS: I usually like trance and house, and I love classical, so this is a perfect harmony. I’ve been in Boston for 12 years, and I’ve never seen something like this.

YH: Yes, I feel like good trance is like classical music 2.0.  It’s just so good.

RR: Is it fair to say that this DJ, The WIG, is the Yo-Yo Ma of electronic music?

YH: Yes, I would say so.

RR: I can tell you enjoy the music; what did you think of the dancers and their costumes?

VVS: The costumes were very appropriate for the music—artistic and classic.

YH: It all blended together so well as a single experience. I enjoyed it all.

RR: Do you think I would have looked good in one of those costumes?

VVS:  I think everyone would look good in one of those costumes.

—Staff writer Alexander Tang can be reached at tang@college.harvard.edu.