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Chromic Duo and NY Philharmonic’s Team Up For Augmented Reality Concert Experience in NYC

Chromic Duo Lucy Yao and Dorothy Chan – are teaming up with the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program for a project entitled “Emerald Futures” where they will combine the performance of the original compositions from the young composers (ages 12-16) with an augmented reality sound walk through New York City. The augmented reality experience will be available to anyone who would like to participate via the app Gesso (available on iOS and Android) starting on July 2nd.

An innovative way to experience music and storytelling, the walk will give listeners a multi-sensory experience as they experience the freedom of exploring the city while immersed in the sounds of original compositions. The scripted audio sound walk will lead listeners on a path through the city from New York’s Central Park to the Lincoln Center using a GPS trigger to create site-specific concert experiences, accessible to the participant at any time.

The experience culminates with Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s “We Belong Here” mural as a moment of reflection and response to ending AAPI hate. Phingbodhipakkiya created the “We Belong Here” campaign to confront the surge in bias and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders – a cause that Yao and Chan are also supporting in their forthcoming work with Mott Street Girls to support local Chinatown businesses that have been impacted by the rise of AAPI crime. “In the wake of exclusion, noticing how much oppression there is in our world right now, we want to create a hybrid experience to experience concerts in public spaces that is the epitome of accessibility and inclusion,” says the duo. “We are motivated to create spaces where stories can be told to foster a deeper understanding of humanizing perspectives.” Through their own self-discovery as first and second-generation Asian Americans, Chromic Duo understands how expansive the diaspora is and how it fails to describe who they truly are. “By having so much that is undefined, part of the beauty behind this project is to create moments where there is a grey area- where sound is met with a strike of lightning in color, where the history of NYC is reflected on through a contemporary narrative of music by the next generation of young composers and thinkers,” says Yao.

Overall, Chromic Duo hopes that this reflective music and narration will allow participants to immerse themselves in an experience that brings to light the stories and perspectives of people and communities around them so that they can be inspired to respond based on empathy instead of biased judgment. “We also hope to inspire the young composers of this program to lean into their curiosities, and always be questioning and challenging the norms of how things came to be,” says Lucy Yao. “We often ask ourselves, ‘how can we use music as a positive force and tool to bring people together?’ Music has the power to take your perceived biases and understanding of the world and challenge them.” By bringing a new perspective on how participants perceive their environment and connect themselves within their communities, they are excited to see how it can interact with music to create innovative ways of “going through the motions” in an amplified manner that allows for new connections to happen.

About New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program:

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An afterschool program through the School Partnership Program for grades 7-10, the Very Young Composer’s Program exposes students to the instruments of the orchestra, nurtures their inherent creativity, and culminates with original works performed by members of the Philharmonic. Students with or without musical backgrounds create, notate, and hear their very own music performed by Philharmonic musicians — often the full Orchestra — with the help of Philharmonic Teaching Artists serving as mentors. The VYC idea is rapidly catching on as it has reached children on four continents in countries including Korea, China, Japan, Venezuela, Spain, and Finland. VYC students in various American cities are exchanging “musical postcards” with these children around the world.

About Chromic Duo: Chromic Duo is an award-winning electronic toy piano duo that brings new audiences together by creating new connections between classical music, electronics, and multimedia. “Tackling large issues with toy pianos” – Chromic pushes the possibilities of genres and performance by recontextualizing classical music in multimedia work inspired by the multitudes as third-culture-kids discovering their voice within the vast Asian American diaspora. The duo composes and reorchestrates indie, classical, ambient, and electronica into arrangements that use any combination of keyboard instruments – ranging from the toy piano to melodica, toy horn, audio-reactive installations, and instruments that link sound to color and movement. Widely known as creatives in other aspects as well, Chromic Duo has projects ranging from collaborations with the New York Philharmonic Young Composers Program, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Educational Initiative, working in collaboration with the Design Museum of Chicago for two world premiere pieces during the pandemic, and other virtual experience collaborations that bring light to Asian-American identities and racial power structures. They were recently announced as the winners of Concert Artist Guild and Young Concert Artists Trust – opening doors for prestigious debuts at famous international venues like Carnegie and Wigmore.

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Connect with Chromic Duo:

Website | Instagram | Spotify

More information on the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composer’s Program: 

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Natalie is a journalism major with a focus on Entertainment and Music who aspires to become a Content Creator For Honk Magazine. Eventually, she wants to be the Publisher or Editor-in-Chief of a major Publishing House. She loves helping people find their voice and passion for writing and journalism, and she can always be found with coffee in hand, editing another article.

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Artist Spotlight

Shaq Jokes About Four Live-In Girlfriends in Candid Interview

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Shaquille O’Neal recently responded to a rumor that was floating around about his love life, and his response was as entertaining as you might imagine. When he stopped by the It’s Giving Podcast with Sarah Fontenot, Shaq’s massive physicality seemed to be counterbalanced by his huge sense of humor. Fontenot, who suggested she would like the atmosphere to be relaxed, joked about being barefoot. But Shaq was ready to make a laugh out of the moment. “I need you to back up. I don’t want to arouse my four white women,” he joked, deftly mocking the claim that he has four live-in girlfriends.

Comedian Jess Hilarious, who jokingly held court on social media and infamously referenced Shaquille O’Neal’s supposed ‘household dynamic’ recently. As many fans embraced the story, Shaq took it in stride. He, this time, seemed to have enjoyed the silliness of it all, at least, reminding those of us why he is perhaps the most dateable dude in sports and entertainment. But underneath the punch lines, the former Lakers star did open up about his views on relationships. So when it comes to the potential of remarrying, Shaq didn’t hold back on sharing his fears. “I’m really afraid of marriage,” he said, noting how many relationships fail to build a true connection.

In his view, you need time to know a person well enough before making a lifelong commitment, which surely hits home with many. But when the time question came one more time, Shaq fell back on the humor that has endeared him to fans. “I don’t know. Now, I got four white girls,” he joked again, leaving listeners in stitches, and the rest just wanting to know more. With charm and giggles, he smothered the speculation, showing that even in the thickets of gossip, he is effortlessly unfazed.

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Artist Spotlight

Remy Ma’s Onstage Moment Has Fans Speculating About Papoose and Claressa Shields Drama

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Remy Ma is not one to shy away from what’s on her mind, and her recent performance was a testament to that. The Bronx rap legend joined forces with Trey Songz and Connie Diiamond for a high-energy performance of their “Ghetto & Ratchet (Remix)” on Thursday night. But it wasn’t only the high-energy delivery that was making mouths move in the crowd, it was one specific lyric that has the internet buzzing. Remy Ma says in the OG song, “Fk wantin’ ya na, I take him.” * But she added a little more bite to her latest performance, audaciously changing it up to, “If I want ya n**a, I’ll take him.” *

The energy instantly shifted in the room as soon as those words slipped from her lips, and fans were left wondering. Rumors and speculation about infidelity have surrounded it for months as the couple’s relationship came under public scrutiny. Although nothing has been officially confirmed, the tension has been impossible to miss. And now, with this lyric change, plenty of fans are convinced Remy Ma is doing just that. The reactions poured in on social media. Some fans were quick to read between the lines, interpreting the lyric as an obvious shot.

“Y’all know that was the line in that song right 👀,” wrote one user, while others directly questioned the intention of the performance. On the contrary, there are also some who couldn’t help but root her on, praising the confidence and fearlessness that Remy Ma displayed on stage. However, the biggest takeaway, perhaps, is that Remy Ma is still committed to her brash persona. Be it back through barb-laden lyrics or just the commanding way she runs a crowd, she knows how to seize a moment. Remy Ma ain’t losing her status as one of hip-hop’s wildest mouths.

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