WHEN:            
Friday, April 5, 8-11 p.m.
(Performance begins at 9 p.m.)
FREE and open to the public

WHERE:                      
Philadelphia Art Alliance (third floor)
251 S. 18th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
For more information, visit themuralandthemint.com

WHAT:  To celebrate the official launch of The Empty Air: A Rittenhouse Square Sound Walk, Philadelphia musician and sound designer Michael Kiley of The Mural and the Mint(TM&TM) will host an Opening Party on Friday, April 5, 8-11 p.m., at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. The event, including an acoustic performance by Kiley and Eliza Jones of TM&TM, a cash bar and snacks, is free and open to the public; Kiley will be available throughout the evening to answer questions about the project.

The Empty Air combines music, environmental sound and mobile technology for a new kind of music experience. The location-based composition and iPhone app (available via iTunes beginning April 5) were designed specifically for Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square. Opening Party attendees are encouraged to experience Kiley and Jones’ organic acoustic set, then download the app and walk across the street into the park to hear TM&TM at its most technologically advanced.

The Empty Air, which will exist indefinitely as a downloadable installation,is the first in a planned series of sound walks to be developed throughout Philadelphia; Kiley hopes to eventually adapt the project into a do-it-yourself product that anyone can implement in his or her own city.

How the app works:
Download the app from the iTunes store (99 cents, beginning April 5) and head to Rittenhouse Square. To begin your Sound Walk, simply plug in your headphones, turn on the app and put your phone in your pocket. Traverse the park in whatever order and pace you choose while your GPS location triggers different elements of the composition — from ambient traffic noises and footstep rhythms to melodies inspired by church bells. Then step into the center of the park, and the entirety of “The Empty Air” song will surround you.

“The Empty Air” was recorded at Miner Street Studios and engineered by Jon Low. Along with Kiley, the musicians include Eliza Jones (Buried Beds) on piano and vocals, Chris Ward (Pattern Is Movement) on drums and Matthew Ricchini (Arc in Round) on drums and vocals. Kiley collected environmental sound in Rittenhouse Square using binaural microphones, manipulating those recordings and using them as the basis for the song. The iPhone app was developed by Philadelphia web design firm P’unk Avenue.

This project is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through its regional arts funding partnership, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA). State government funding for the arts depends upon an annual appropriation by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Additional support of the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) Partnership in Southeastern Pennsylvania is provided by PECO.

The project is also supported in part through a grant from the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Composers Forum as well as a 2012 Independence Foundation Arts Fellowship. Special thanks to La Colombe Torrefaction.