Sanctuaries Tour on the Associated Press

U.S. Musician Bring 'Surround-Sound to Italian Cathedrals

Saturday, August 4, 2007

(08-04) 14:33 PDT Los Angeles (AP) --

It was one of the more unusual summer concert tours veteran composer Gary Chang had undertaken, performing futuristic, electronic music in centuries-old sacred cathedrals.

Chang, who has composed dozens of soundtracks and scores for movies and television, recently returned from Italy, where he brought modern surround-sound-type compositions to some of the country's most venerable landmarks.

"It was kind of a monumental idea," Chang said with a laugh. "Let's send 500 pounds worth of gear halfway around the world and drag it around to churches."

But he'd been fascinated for decades by the acoustics of the ancient cathedrals and always wondered how they might sound when filled with electronic compositions that were filtered through a state-of-the-art 5.1 theatrical sound system.

Finally, last year, he completed a composition called "Elegy for Diana" that was heard by fellow composer Neil Leonard, and the two decided to put together the "Sanctuaries" tour. It took them to Italian cathedrals in Rome, Benevento, Venice, San Galgano and La Spezia.

"We requested that we could perform the music not in a special concert but during regular church hours," Chang said. "Regular people who would come to the church to worship could just come in and do their thing and the music would be there."

He and Leonard didn't know what to expect when they started but were pleased to discover the reaction was positive.

"At first there was just curiosity, but I think after hearing the music and hearing what 'Sanctuaries' is all about, many are very happy to have our project come to their community and church," he said.

He's hoping to launch a similar tour of the United States this fall before taking the music overseas again next year.

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On the Web:

www.sanctuariestour.blogspot.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/04/entertainment/e143329D70.DTL