About the Series

Hear a musical instrument made from penguin bones. Learn how remixed sound samples can form the backdrop for a lounge act. Discover songs composed from the frequencies of starlight.

Explore distant realms of musical possibility with Resonance, an evening series at the Exploratorium. Contemporary musicians and sound artists will perform new works and discuss their ideas, techniques, and inspirations with Exploratorium host Nicole Minor.

Resonance performances are held in the Exploratorium’s Kanbar Forum, and enlivened by its state-of-the-art, 72-channel Meyer Sound Constellation sound system, providing the audience with an intimate experience of each event’s sonic details.

Curator's Statement: Wayne Grim

"The Resonance series is about music and sound created or captured in interesting and unusual ways by important artists working in many fields. Some of the music and musicians may be unknown to the general public but that’s not a reflection of relevance. These musicians and sound artists are working on fascinating projects that need to be heard.

During the series, we discover the hows and whys of music making, and explore the technology, culture, science, art, and perception of sound. We offer recorded interviews; live talks, performances, sound experiments, and demonstrations; installations; and produced audio and video segments. Sarah Cahill, an extraordinary musician, radio show emcee, and music scholar, hosts the series.

Resonance was inspired by Speaking of Music, a series copresented by the Exploratorium with Charles Amirkhanian from 1983 to 1992. It featured prominent musicians and composers focusing on the creative process. I try to offer the same kind of enlightening and playful look at music with Resonance."

—Wayne Grim

Nicole Minor

Nicole Minor is the director of Moving Images, a group of media content creators at the Exploratorium. Moving Images produces videos, live webcasts, artist installations, podcasts, music compositions, and other content for both the Exploratorium website and the museum floor, much of which you can see on explo.tv, our media portal. In her years at the Exploratorium, Nicole has created both temporary artworks of her own and supported many artists-in-residence projects through curated programs and installations. She has a deep interest in and appreciation of music and sound, and loves to learn about music that is new or unfamiliar. Nicole has also helped develop several new experimental soundscapes, which have played in the Kanbar Forum.

Nicole has served on film juries for the San Francisco International Film Festival, participated on panels related to media and the web, and guest taught classes for local universities such as the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Art Institute.