Well, we are a decade into the Performing Media festival and I have with me Ryan.

Ryan, you are the host for the event.

And this is is it the 10th year you guys have been doing this?

Yeah, it's our 10th year.

We're very excited for performing Media Festival number ten.

That is amazing.

Now this is my first time really diving into what the festival entails.

So I'm really excited to hear from you and to share with our community what all they can expect out of it.

Now, what's happening next weekend?

Correct?

That's right.

We have events running Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

There's roughly two events a day, so we have, opening concerts at 7 p.m.

on Thursday, and then we have a noon on Friday and a seven on Friday, and a noon on Saturday and a seven on Saturday.

And there's a wide variety of events that encompass within this.

And I really love that you have such a wide spread.

Anything for performances.

And you also have some artist talks, things like that.

So I want to kind of dive into that, but let's draw things back first.

How did you get here to begin with ten years ago.

Wow.

So, yeah, I came to South Bend to work and teach at IU South Bend, and I'm a composer at heart.

And, found my way working in multimedia spaces.

And I was creating works that use visuals to kind of give motion to electronic sound, to accompany and work with live performers.

And when I got to IU South Bend, I met a colleague, Eric Sadler, who was a video artist at heart and was found himself working with music to create the same kind of in result.

So the two of us got together, we talked about the works that we were interested in, and we started working with students could be both instructors.

And what we realized as we started to work with students and create pieces with them, is that we needed a place to showcase what we were doing with the students, and then also to bring in some practitioners to South Bend that are doing this stuff nationally, so that the students and the community can start to experience some of this kind of experimental and new art form that we are working with in the performing media world.

And I'm not really familiar with what that means.

You know, when I think of performing arts, you often think of what's on stage or what do you hear at a concert?

So talk to us a little bit about what the difference and what people can expect in this regard.

Yeah.

So we take a really broad view of what it means to perform with different types of media.

But we really focus mostly on works that involve both audio and visual as a kind of holistic art form.

So you can kind of, make a juxtaposition against like the good old fashioned music video where you've got a song that everyone listens to on the radio, and then here's the music video for it.

And most of the artists working with the kind of art form that we're doing at Performing Media Festival, they're starting to think not first I'll make a song and then make a video, but they think first about the video outcome and create both the song and the visuals to work towards that unified art form.

So some are doing this to perform things live, just like you mentioned.

We have concerts that happen at IU South Bend.

We have performances at Lang Lab, but we also have artists who are creating works that are exhibit in galleries.

So we have a little installation at the South Bend Museum of Art.

Oh, okay.

Artists that are doing things to just be screened, like in a movie theater.

So we have screenings of video works at the Browning Cinema, at the Department Performing Arts Center, and they're also doing a screening at the Saint Joseph County Public Library.

So pretty diverse group of, venues.

Yeah, the idea is all the same that there's people creating performance works with the end goal, that it's a unified kind of multimedia experience and trying to create some new art with that end goal in mind.

I love that so much.

And, you know, since you've been doing this for a number, I have to ask, how have you seen this expanding and how wide are the people that are coming to this?

Because this is this is a draw.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, I hope so.

We as I said at the beginning, you know, we're here at IU South Bend working with students.

And that was our first year, was mainly working with students and a few colleagues that both Erik, the co-founder and I knew and brought into town.

And then we kind of just slowly started to grow from there.

So each year kind of adding a little bit.

And I think one of our biggest, growth moments was when we started to have installations at the South Bend Museum of Art, which is obviously a kind of an iconic place in the middle of downtown where the community can come and experience art and know to go there for new things.

And that gave us a bit of a blueprint to reach out to other community partners.

So after that, we started to work with, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center to screen with The Browning Cinema.

And pretty early on, we also started having our concerts at Lang Lab, which is another arts venue in town known for kind of, audience members going to experience something new, maybe a little bit outside the box.

Right.

We're trying to have the festival go to these places that are known for showcasing new art, showcasing art from both the community but also nationally.

And it's just been really exciting to see how these institutions have come together in this kind of networked fashion, and then also showcase our city to the artists that come to town.

It's really great to hear them after they've been talked about.

Oh wow, South bend is so great.

You know, you've got this great art museum, these great venues.

So it's really fantastic to have both the community and the artists who come to present works kind of see themselves together in these festival experiences.

Absolutely.

And I know our, our viewers always hear me say, but the performing arts are just so incredible here at a community.

So I love that you are giving them the opportunity to to expand on this, let's talk about a couple of the different things that are going to be happening.

It's a three day event.

That's right.

So we have some stuff coming on.

Is it start on Thursday or Friday starts on Thursday at 7 p.m.

and we kick off as we have, I think from the beginning at IU South Bend.

So we'll be at the joshi performing, performance hall at IU South Bend at 7 p.m.

on Thursday.

And that concert's really for works in the concert hall.

And if you haven't been to IU, South Bend's Joshi Performing Arts Center or Performing Performance Hall, one of the most amazing things about it is it has a surround sound audio system.

And so we have works that will be featuring, composers who wrote specifically to have sounds coming from all around and a really beautiful screen and a lot of live performers for that opening concert to get that very, very cool.

And I know then you guys, is there a calendar posted online so everyone can follow along with where they want to be and where they need to go?

Yes.

Yeah, it's tricky when you've got so many different venues.

So we just have a really long website name called Performing Media festival.com.

So it's the whole title there.

It's a lot to type in, but it is just the name.

So WW dot Performing Media festival.com will have the venues listed but then also a schedule, the quick schedule overview at the top and then kind of a list of what to expect at each place.

And then if people need to get tickets for each event or how does that work?

So the events are all free, some event places.

Yeah.

You know, it's great, right?

And some places do ask for you to get a ticket, but you can get a free ticket.

So, for example, Browning Cinema, they do have tickets, but that's something you can get at their box office.

Other venues.

It's simply, you know, walk in.

But the events are free to attend.

So we really hope the public comes out and with an open mind to experience this new art form and kind of see some of the things that artists or living artists are doing and creating this new space.

I love that aside from artists, you know, who else would be a great person to come and catch something like this?

Is it family friendly for the most part?

Yeah.

It's it kind of depends on the venue.

I would say that the South Bend Museum of Art is a great family friendly space.

I mean you can always walk in there and see all sorts of things if you didn't know.

Right now they're doing their scholastic's, experience.

So you're already showcasing high school artists from around the region.

And the concerts at IU South Bend are also open to the public and a great space, very accessible.

So those are probably the high ones.

If you're going to kind of come with family or just looking for like a really nice venue, it's just a late evening.

So it goes from like seven til about 10 or 11.

So it's kind of a later night.

Okay.

So it just kind of depends on the space and some of the art can be a bit, bright.

So in dark spaces.

So if you're sensitive to like really flashy lights or loud sounds, then you may just want to kind of experience the the exhibit at the South and Museum of Art, where you can walk in and see it.

If you need to step out, you can.

And so I think there's a way to kind of test the waters to see what you want to experience more as you want.

I love that we love experiencing things here in this.

Yeah, sure.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much, Ryan.

Good luck on your festival and thank you.

Ten years.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much Courtney.

It was great talking with you.

You so.