Karin Olson & Michael Murnane
Hold, Please

A video installation observing the opportunity for thoughtfulness created by the postponement of all live performance events in response to Coronavirus. Hold, Please is a meditation on the emptiness of the theater and its usual behind-the-scenes collaborators.

Music created by Evan Murnane. Special thanks to Deirdre Murnane.

The music for this project was inspired by the piece Notturno (Nocturne) in F Major from Soirées Musicales, a collection of works for piano published in 1838 by Clara Schumann—here in a simplified form, adapted for cello. The idea of a piece devoted to the magic stillness of night, to evoking the introspection and romanticism of evening, seemed appropriate for a meditation on theater and the arts. The smooth, delicate harmonies of the Nocturne have a gentle push and pull, moments of tension and moments of relaxation, like the breath that accompanies them in the recording. Through inspiration and expiration, the opening and closing of a curtain, the movement of our breath like day and night cycles on. 

-Evan

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About Karin

Karin Olson (Lighting Designer) has been lighting performance in the Twin Cities in many great venues including the Guthrie Theater, Ordway Center, and the History Theatre. She has collaborated with design teams at Mixed Blood, Frank Theatre, Theater Mu, and with dance companies Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, Threads Dance, Alternative Motion Project and TU Dance.

She has also designed regionally for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Stage and Trinity Rep. Recent designs include the local premieres of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at Mixed Blood and Pink Floyd's: The Wall: The Ballet presented by Twin Cities Ballet at the Cowles Center. 

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About Michael

A 38-year veteran of theatrical lighting design, Michael Murnane has lit shows throughout the U.S., Canada, China, Tanzania, as well as several countries in Europe. Through the wide range of theatrical genre in which Murnane works — theater, dance, festivals, opera, concerts, galas, architecture, television, and corporate events — his designs win consistent praise for their power to bring the emotional tone of the work to life.