Film Composer Premieres Work at Arts Camp Written by Sentinel Staff Writer    Thursday, 03 July 2008 Most Sitkans have heard one of the compositions of a Sitka Fine Arts Camp instructor without realizing it. And now Marco d'Ambrosio, co-composer of the crescendoing theme song for the THX sound systems in movie theaters, has written something original for performance in Sitka. July 3, 2008 SHANNON HAUGLAND Sentinel Staff Writer (edited) Most Sitkans have heard one of the compositions of a Sitka Fine Arts Camp instructor without realizing it. And now Marco d'Ambrosio, co-composer of the crescendoing theme song for the THX sound systems in movie theaters, has written something original for performance in Sitka. ``Tesseract'' will be performed by Sitka Fine Arts Camp music, theatre and dance staff members at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Centennial Hall. The show is free and open to the public. ``Roger (Schmidt) contacted me a few months back, and asked me if I could put something together that would be possible within the timeline of camp,'' d'Ambrosio said. ``This lends itself to something that's interdisciplinary in nature.'' The resulting product is the framework of a multi-movement composition around which the theatre and dance departments have been invited to create a performance piece. D'Ambrosio said the overarching theme of the work is ``dreams.'' ``I was reading an article about dreams, and memory, and a study that had been done,'' he said in an interview with the Sentinel. Scientists comparing brain scans of people experiencing something, and remembering the experience, found little difference between the two,” d'Ambrosio said. ``I was fascinated by that,'' he said. To illustrate this concept, he picked six poems about dreams, by Edgar Allan Poe, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Bishop (two poems), e.e. cummings and Langston Hughes. ``I tried to make it interesting and diverse, trying to come up with a thread or storyline,'' he said. The piece is ``abstract in nature,'' and ``blurs the lines of dreams and reality,'' d'Ambrosio said. D'Ambrosio set up a loose narrative for the piece, but left room for improvisation and collaboration by the theatre and dance departments. When he spoke to the Sentinel earlier this week, the groups had not yet had their first rehearsal. ``It's an experimental work in progress for me,'' he said. ``I'm learning a lot by doing this.'' The title comes from the idea of a tesseract -- a four dimensional cube -- which d'Ambrosio uses as a metaphor for travel across time and space. ``The cube within a cube is always evolving, the insides are becoming the outside,'' he said. D'Ambrosio was born outside Florence, Italy, and moved to the U.S. at age seven. He studied music and engineering at the University of Hartford and the Hartt College of Music in Connecticut, then went to work for moviemaker George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch. ``Slowly I made my way toward losing my “day job” and became an independent composer in 1995,'' he said. Today he composes music for feature films, anime films, TV programs, independent films, documentaries and live performance. His most recent projects were for the independent film ``The Last Stan,'' and the documentary ``Paper or Plastic.'' Other credits include the popular 2000 anime feature film ``Vampire Hunter D, Bloodlust,” the 2001 film ``Haiku Tunnel.'' and the 2006 documentary ``The Rape of Europa”. This is the fourth year in six years that he has taught at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. Another Fine Arts Camp veteran, Tim Weiss, will be conducting the 10-instrument music group. ``This is right up my alley,'' said the 41-year-old professor of conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. ``I particularly like bringing new music to life. ... Here we're bringing a new piece to life right here in Sitka, Alaska.'' Both Weiss and d'Ambrosio described the music in the piece as ``accessible.'' ``As a listener, you don't know what to expect, so you have to be open,'' Weiss said. In the orchestra are flute, viola, bass, fluegelhorn, trumpet, trombone, contrabass trombone, alto saxophone, percussion, piano and electronics. The Sitka Fine Arts Camp is celebrating its 33rd year. As in past years, the faculty has prepared evening programs to showcase professional work to the campers. All programs are free and open to the public. So far this week the high school campers have seen faculty perform mask, mime, jazz and theater. A faculty ballet show and carving exhibit is on tap at the MEHS gym at 7:30 p.m. tonight, and d'Ambrosio will present film and music clips at 7:30 p.m. Friday. At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, campers will watch the award-winning documentary ``The Heart of the Game'' at the Coliseum Theater, followed by questions with the filmmaker, Ward Serrill, who is an instructor at the Fine Arts Camp. Each camp concludes with three days of student presentations, which are also open to the public.