“Hatched” runs through Feb. 21st, at 5:00 p.m. every evening. Make it your walkabout. Music by Maria Finkelmeier downloadable at the site or at esplanade.org/hatched
“Hatched: Breaking through the Silence” premieres at the Hatch Memorial Shell on Boston’s Esplanade on Friday, Jan. 22. “Hatched” features the music of percussionist/composer Maria Finkelmeier, who worked with visual artists and technical experts. They will fill the Shell interior with a kaleidoscopic light show, accompanied by Finkelmeier’s score for small ensemble.
“I had an itch to take this music out into a broader space,” Finkelmeier says.
“The Hatch Shell is joyful. We all missed it last summer. Come when you want, experience it when you want, and leave when you want.”
“Hatched” starts on the hour, then repeats at :20 and at :40 each evening, beginning at 5:00 p.m. It runs through Feb. 21. The music can be streamed on site or at esplanade.org/hatched. Finkelmeier wants to create a free, safe outdoor experience, optional but stimulating.
“This can be enjoyed on different levels,” she says. “The lowest hanging fruit—you just come by. And get a QR code so you can hear the music. Or you can read and find out more about its inspiration. I hope people get bumped into the next category.”
Planning for “Hatched” began last summer. Finkelmeier, who lives in West Roxbury, assembled an artistic team that includes director Pamela Hersch, and also involves multiple civic, corporate and technical partners. The idea first came from the Esplanade Association, an advocacy group for the riverside park.
“The Esplanade Association is the reason this is happening,” Finkelmeier says. “This whole project exists because they wanted it to. They were an amazing catalyst.”
Finkelmeier embraced the opportunity to reexamine the Hatch Shell’s history. As with many monuments of its day, the builders of the Shell inscribed names of “great” composers on its façade. “There are 87 names, and 86 are men,” Finkelmeier says.
“Something like this might act as a catalyst that will permeate these spaces,” she says. “I thought about my role. I thought this might be an important project, as a female-identifying composer. I said to Pamela Hersch, ‘Let’s talk about our lives.’ We feel like we are the right voice to create in this moment.”
Musically, Finkelmeier conceived a fifteen-minute piece in four movements. “Each movement has a musical essence that informs the visual,” she says. The puzzle-piece visuals are a stylized treatment of actual musical instruments, reassembled digitally to fill the inside curvature of the Shell.
“This piece is made for the Shell,” she says. “I was challenged to do here what I can’t do onstage. It’s a different compositional space.”
The music holds multiple moods, culminating, Finkelmeier hopes, in a feeling like “that moment when you hug your aunt for the first time in 18 months.
“It ends on a big moment, and then exhales. I want you to feel like it’s going to be okay.
“We want to create a safe celebration of art and humanity,” she says. “We want to encourage people to move around. This is a public space. There are no rules.
“It’s a four-week run, so you’re not going to miss it. You have plenty of time.”
“Hatched: Breaking through the Silence” opens Friday, Jan. 22 at 5:00 p.m. and runs through Feb. 21. Visit esplanade.org/hatched.
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Opera News and Leonore Overture. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.