Our Mission

Spectacle Collective brings classical music and other art forms into conversation with each other to create multidisciplinary performances, engage wider audiences, and help artists thrive.

• Beginning with classical music, we find new ways for art forms to interact.

• We support the collaboration and well-being of artists.

• We empower audiences to find their own meaning in live performances.

• We foster a shared experience between performers and audience members.

Our History

Spectacle Collective’s first project was Dmitri in the Dark, a unique and provocative production that combined a quartet by Dmitri Shostakovich with performances by actors and circus artists. The quartet was first played in darkness, and then again in the light joined by actors, acrobats, and aerialists who shaped the story with movement. The Boston Classical Intelligencer proclaimed, the creators should be credited for an imaginative, multidisciplinary format that illuminated the music—I left with a deeper understanding of Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 6 than I would have from a concert alone.

Who we are

Amy Meyer

AMY MEYER is a theatre artist, circus arts practitioner, director, historian, and teacher. She has acted professionally in Boston for a decade, and is an Artistic Associate with the IRNE-award-winning physical theatre company imaginary beasts. She is also a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at Tufts University where she specializes in circus history, gender and risk in acrobatic performance. Amy spends her free time finding new ways to defy gravity on aerial silks and flying trapeze.

Jessica Cooper

JESSICA COOPER is a Boston based freelance violist, playing regularly with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, while also having appeared recently with the New Bedford Symphony, the Marsh Chapel Collegium, the Cape Ann Symphony, and Music Worcester among others. Jess earned both an MM and PD in viola performance at Boston University under the tutelage of Daniel Doña and Michelle LaCourse. Apart from performing, Jess is also currently an upper strings teacher for elementary students at the Kingsley Montessori School in Boston. When Jess is not spending time with her viola, she enjoys testing out New York Times recipes while pretending to be an expert salsa dancer.

Alyssa Lawson

ALYSSA LAWSON, cellist, has performed with diverse ensembles, including the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Arabic Ensemble, and The Morning Architect. Alyssa holds a master's degree in cello performance from Boston University, where she studied with Michael Reynolds. She is also a Fulbright scholar (Belgium, 2009-2010) with degrees in French and Ethnomusicology. Alyssa is on the faculty of the Suzuki School of Newton and the New England Suzuki Institute, and is a founding member of Cellos on the Charles, a group that supports cello education in Eastern Massachusetts.

Subaiou Zhang

SUBAIOU ZHANG, a native of China, came to the US to study the biological sciences in 2006. Instead of going to medical school as planned, Subaiou resumed her violin studies in 2012 and started to pursue music professionally. Currently working towards a D.M.A. in Violin Performance at BU, Subaiou studies with Professor Yuri Mazurkevich and performs actively in the Greater Boston area, including recent solo appearances with the Wellesley Symphony in 2016 and the Brookline Symphony in 2017. When not playing music, Subaiou is happiest to be sewing and making food.

Dmitri in the Dark

Dmitri in the Dark is a unique theatrical experience intertwining a string quartet with contemporary circus arts. First, dedicate your attention to Dmitri Shostakovich's beautiful and scathing String Quartet No. 6, performed in nearly complete darkness. Then listen again as actors, acrobats, and aerialists weave the composition into a story.

The concept… was ingenious yet simple, the kind of thing that makes you wonder why it has not been done more often. Unique and provocative... an imaginative, multidisciplinary format that illuminated the music.

- Boston Classical Intelligencer

Verses

A live jukebox activated by poetry. In this interactive installation, audience members choose a poem which is then paired with music performed by a live string quartet. Spectacle Collective has also partnered with Groupmuse to present a Mindful Muse in the Spring of 2020. More details forthcoming!

Circus Temporis

Be immersed in the world of early music through the experience of circus acts that were some of the first to popularize this unique performance art. Coming in 2020, more details forthcoming!

Join us for a perspective on keeping healthy and maintaining peak performance with the principles and practices prescribed by Chinese Medicine, offered by acupuncturist and herbalist Brant Carter, MAOM, Lic. Ac.

Brant Carter is an acupuncturist, herbalist, and Chinese Medicine practitioner in Greater Boston. Brant’s studies in Chinese Medicine began informally in his youth during his study and practice of TaiJi Quan, and continued formally at the New England School of Acupuncture after completing his undergraduate studies in biology and biotechnology, with additional study and training in Tianjin, China and Tokyo, Japan. In this workshop, Brant shares fundamental ideas and teaches simple techniques you can do yourself at home for maintaining and developing health, wellness, and performance as artists and as individuals.

Christos Vayenas is a pianist trained in several meditative and wellness traditions, including Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism, Taoism, and developmental/somatic psychology. He has drawn from his experiences in spirituality and the arts to develop a form of meditation that facilitates the embodiment and integration of our mental, emotional, and sensory intelligences.

Betsy Polatin, MFA is an internationally recognized breathing and movement specialist, has been teaching for more than forty years, and is currently a Master Lecturer at Boston University's College of Fine Arts. Her work is greatly influenced by The Alexander Technique, Somatic Experiencing, Breathing Coordination, and the teachings of Spiritual and Meditation Masters. She co-teaches an ongoing traveling workshop, Trauma and the Performing Artist Take I and Take II, with Peter A Levine, PhD. As a well-known educator, she has had numerous articles published in the Huffington Post and is the author of The Actor’s Secret. Her latest book coming out soon, HUMANual, is a manual for being human.

www.theactorssecretbook.com

Connect

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