’Bridge Music’ returns to the Mid-Hudson
story + photos by niki@hvny.info
Back in the summer of 2007, I was a year out of college working at my first job as the art director for the now-defunct Taconic Press out of Millbrook. One of my first field assignments for Dutchess Magazine is still one of my favorites: meeting local composer Joseph Bertolozzi on the pedestrian walkway of the Mid-Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie to photograph him as he worked on his sound-art installation, “Bridge Music.”
As we walked down the pathway of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, Bertolozzi whacked, thumped and played on every little surface he passed, traffic whirling past during an otherwise normal morning commute. His eyes closed tight at times, listening closely as he swung mallets against the beams, tapped wooden dowels on the railings, and tinkered with sounds using whatever else he pulled from a five gallon bucket that rolled behind him as we walked. NYSBA workers even placed mics in places he wasn’t permitted to access for those hard-to-reach-or-even-imagine-sounds.
He made an album from those sampled sounds, “Bridge Music,” that reached the Top 20 Billboard Charts for Classical Crossover.
From there, Bertolozzi went on to record “Tower Music” at the Eiffel Tower, and continues to share his free-spirit sound-art experience with students of all ages. "Using video and audio interspersed with my personal accounts, we often end with a ‘play-along’ where I hand out cymbals and drumsticks and play along to a song as I cue the audience when to strike their cymbals,” Bertolozzi said.
The 13th season of Bridge Music returns on April 1. The sound-art installation is located at each of Mid-Hudson Bridge’s towers, accessed from the bridge’s pedestrian sidewalks at Johnson-Iorio Park in Highland. The sidewalks are open from dawn to dusk April 1 through October 31. Additionally, the same music plays year-round, 24/7 in the park on 95.3FM. The installation is free and open to the public.
Minosca Alcantara, Executive Director of the New York State Bridge Authority, said “The Mid-Hudson Bridge is noted for its visually-stunning beauty, designed by Ralph Modjeski, himself a musician. For over a decade, Joseph Bertolozzi’s ‘Bridge Music’ has provided an audio experience for visitors to immerse themselves in. The New York State Bridge Authority is proud to continue partnering with Mr. Bertolozzi in offering this unique sound art installation for the public to enjoy.”
“I hope as people emerge from the past couple of years’ confinement they can find some enjoyment from this musical offering and inspiration from the open air views. The Mid Hudson Bridge itself, over 90 years later, is still an engineering marvel.”
For map & more info, visit bridgemusic.info
BRIDGE TIDBIT: “The bridge’s designer, Ralph Modjeski, was a highly skilled pianist (he was a classmate of the famous Polish virtuoso Paderewski). He ultimately chose engineering as his profession and became one of the 20th century’s greatest bridge designers. Both as a pioneering engineer and a musician who loved the music of his own time, he would be intrigued to experience this boundary-shattering synthesis involving his beloved bridge and the music of our time.” - via https://josephbertolozzi.com/bridge-music/