Date: May 20th, 4pm EDT

Contact: TimSingsThings@gmail.com

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BardQuest is an interactive musical adventure set in a virtual space where audiences participate in musical performances as they work with the cast to complete quests, solve puzzles, and defeat enemies in a technologically groundbreaking new experience. BardQuest is created, composed & performed by Boston-based singer, educator, and composer Timothy Ayres-Kerr, joined by Sara Delong, Elyssa Bjorkman, Allyn McCourt, Marnen Laibow-Koser, & Elizabeth Clutts. The Show will debut to the public for a limited run of early access “playtests” giving audiences a taste of what’s to come in BardQuest’s continuous development. 

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The concept for BardQuest was awarded the Grand Prize for New England Conservatory’s first ever Low Latency Project Grant, in early 2021. This grant provided Ayres-Kerr and his team with the necessary equipment to perform music remotely in real time as well as training and advice from Kayla Gautereaux and Dr. Ian Howell, Boston’s resident experts of this new technology.  

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As travelers to the world of BardQuest, audiences will explore the open world powered by the online group video chat program SpatialChat while getting to know its musical denizens played by live musicians. Adventurers work together to solve riddles and quests, eventually inspiring the Bards to combine their voices and defeat the evil threatening to silence them forever! 

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The core cast of BardQuest sings and plays instruments together in real time over the internet—which was functionally impossible until recently. The innovative “low latency” app soundjack, alleviates the slight delay that occurs in nearly all forms of remote audio communication. By removing this delay, we empower our musicians to connect safely but intimately with each other—combining the spontaneity of live performance with endless possibilities of a virtual space. Audiences won’t have to worry about the low latency aspect of BardQuest outside of hearing it, as they’ll only need web browsing device and headphones to participate—they will get to share in the act of composition by choosing which bards sing together and when, as well as some sing along opportunities that make creative use of that slight delay. Tim hopes that by this design choice BardQuest can embrace the benefits of the new technology while still remaining accessible. 

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BardQuest will be shown to the public for the first time on May 20thth at 4pm EDT, offering tickets at a “pay what you can” price point. Interested parties should visit www.BardQuest.world to reserve a ticket and join the mailing list and stay up to date with all things BardQuest. 

 

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Timothy Ayres-Kerr is a tenor, voice teacher, composer, arranger, director, producer, researcher and amateur guitarist. He teaches voice at The Franklin School for the Performing Arts and Dean College while maintaining an active and diverse performance schedule—this includes opera, oratorio, song recitals, musical theater, early music, pop tunes and original compositions. He holds a BM in vocal performance and an MM in vocal pedagogy from the New England Conservatory. He is the composer and librettist for the award-winning 'A Game of Werewolf' which has been performed in three states. Guided by his eclectic taste, Tim hopes to continue right on—challenging established beliefs, singing old songs, and making things that you’ve never seen before. In the summer months you can find him and his bride-to-be bobbing about on their small sailboat in the Boston Harbor. see and hear more at www.TimSingsThings.com