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'What Does Queens Sound Like to You?' Artist Asks Ahead of Show

By Katie Honan | March 6, 2017 4:37pm
 Marinella Senatore is bringing her large-scale performance to the Queens Museum in April.
Marinella Senatore is bringing her large-scale performance to the Queens Museum in April.
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Courtesy the Queens Museum

QUEENS — Italian artist Marinella Senatore, who has put on large-scale performances around the world, will bring her first major show in the United States to the Queens Museum in April.

As part of "La Piazza Universale/Social Stages," she's looking for a little help from the locals to create an "Anthem for Queens," composed with the sounds and memories that represent the borough. 

"We felt that doing an open call for sound of Queens would be a great component of the overall project, which is a way for her to showcase the energies of all kinds of creative people in New York City," Larissa Harris, a curator at the museum, said. "But this is a particular Queens component."

Senatore did something similar in Modica, Italy, creating an hours-long traveling show called "Modica Street Musical — The Present, the Past and the Possible." 

She sought out the sounds and description of memories of sounds that represented Modica, and composer Emiliano Branda — who will create the Queens piece — wrote the music.

Residents have until March 17 to send in submissions, along with words describing why they're meaningful. Sound files should be one minute or less, uploaded in .mp3 or .wav format.

SEND IN YOUR SOUNDS AND MEMORIES

Submissions can be anything from an original song to sound from a protest or public gathering, the curators said. Senatore is also looking for descriptions of memories, and sounds that may no longer be heard as much in Queens.

"It's so much about memory, and maybe about change," Harris said.

"What might you have heard that you haven't heard in a while, or what are some sounds that you heard only recently, but never heard before?"

The final piece will be unveiled at the exhibit's opening on April 9, which continues the museum's goal of "showcasing the voices of the community around it," Harris said.

"Sometimes it's having local people doing performances, and another way is working with artists who are interested in the creativity of regular people."