Verdigris Ensemble has never shied away from technology. From using live art projections in SHAMS to auctioning an NFT version of Betty’s Notebook on the blockchain, the Dallas choral ensemble uses technology to transform how audiences experience choral music.
“For us, the intersection of art and technology is a very exciting avenue to be a part of and specifically the ability to play, represent and create in new mediums, it’s really quite interesting,” said Sam Brukhman, Verdigris Ensemble’s artistic director.
Now, Verdigris Ensemble is incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their season opening concert series, The Endangered.
“In this particular case, the use of artificial intelligence really speeds up a lot of the processes that would traditionally take months of time and that’s something that for smaller non-profits and especially when we’re talking about equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, it really allows people to have a level playing field,” Brukhman said.
Verdigris Ensemble
The Endangered runs October 27-29 at Dallas Contemporary, Verdigris Ensemble’s artistic partner for its fall concerts. With 110 ft wide walls, Dallas Contemporary is the perfect setting for the immersive concert experience with AI-generated visuals.
“They are an organization that understands our mission very well,” Brukhman said. “And they also have the expertise to be able to advise and curate the images that we produce and have a direct hand to say, ‘This is really effective. This is not very effective. This is how we think you should change it,’ which allows us to refine our artistic muscles from a visual standpoint and really nail down the experience of our performance.”
This concert series is about conservation with Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered at the center of the program. While celebrating and mourning the natural world, the piece urges people to be more aware of environmental issues and act. The work draws on musical styles that encourage contemplation of non-human life. The program is filled out with segments of Edie Hill’s Spectral Spirits and three world premiere compositions by Samuel K. Sweet (Dallas), Kyle Brenn (NYC), and Anuj Bhutani (Dallas), documenting five primary endangered species endemic to the region: Greasewood Moth, Eskimo Curlew, Passenger Pigeon, Whooping Crane, and Black-Capped Vireo.
Brukhman approached Courtney Ware to create the concert series’ visuals. Ware co-founded Lightware Labs with her husband, Camron Ware and has worked with Verdigris Ensemble on several projects, including SHAMS and Dust Bowl.
“The idea that Sam pitched me was, ‘What if we had an entire concert where the visuals that supported the music were all completely AI generated?’” Ware said. “I was immediately really excited and terrified because it’s something that’s all very new.”
Ware has worked in film and with theaters, including Dallas Theater Center and Broadway Dallas.
“With choir, we get the combination of being able to use music that absolutely evokes emotions in a way that’s a lot more dynamic than when you have to use a script in theater,” Ware said.
Using nine AI tools, Ware created a central idea of a decrepit sanctuary with a Dallas skyline, typed in various prompts, and established a beginning and ending point for the visual evolution.
“It starts with generating an image that we like and then pulling it through and animating it. There’s a lot of discovery with it so you can type things in and you have no idea what’s going to come out,” Ware said. “My process has been brute force create content to try stuff, to tweak things, and see what comes out.”
Courtney Ware and Lightware Labs
Ware can marry the audio of the choral music with the AI program and the AI reacts, but Ware is not exactly sure what in the music the AI program is picking up.
“This type of movement with the music and timing it to change with a crescendo of the choral music is really exciting,” Ware said. “My heart starts to race, waiting to see what’s next.”
Ware admits about half of what the AI programs produce is not great. It does not replace the creative storytelling impulse. She augments the images, adding layers and trying different prompts to get the effect she wants.
“My job is to take these images and make sense of them and put them together narratively,” Ware said. “In no way are just hitting ‘go.’”
By using AI programs, Ware has been able to create the visuals for this concert series in five weeks. Without it, she would have needed eight months.
“I really see it right now as a tool in the same way a photographer’s camera is a tool to capture. You can affect the lighting, you can affect the subject and then you use your tool with the settings to convey your message,’ Ware said. “I think it’s been a way to shortcut what is in my brain into real tangible things.”
Verdigris Ensemble embraces AI technology, with the choral ensemble’s staff using ChatGPT on a daily basis. Brukhman is also aware this new technology can be misused and has tried to be thoughtful about its artistic application.
“How do we use AI for good and not for harm?” Brukhman said. “We’ve tried to be responsible in the way we use AI in really doing justice to the music in our own unique way through Courtney’s augmentation, the curation of the Dallas Contemporary, and through our own eyes.”
Learn more: Verdigris Ensemble