Fortress Brass is a site-specific musical event in two movements to take place at Fort Gorges in Casco Bay, Maine, curated and directed by Erin Johnson. The first movement takes place during audience’s boat ride out to Fort Gorges, during which the brass musicians bombard the audience’s boat with a fanfare for twelve minutes while their boat runs along the side of the audience’s boat. The hour-long second movement takes place at Fort Gorges itself. The musical structure takes advantage of the unique semi-panopticon-like layout of the fort, by stationing the musicians individually at gun casemate archways (architectural cells) facing the fort’s inner courtyard. In this way, the musicians are optimized for antiphonal, stereo-like effects. Additionally, the back wall of the fort running along the opposite side from where the musicians are stationed will help create echo-like effects. The musical structure will also feature solos played by Philippe Brunet (trumpet) and Weston Olencki (trombone), as well as the composer, Ken Ueno, who is also a vocalist specializing extended techniques (e.g. throat singing). This work is a tribute to the fact that Fort Gorges never saw military action, and naïvely hopes that an aesthetic army of unbellicose musicians, though performing viscerally stunning music, might permanently replace those that are armed with weapons.

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