Desert Magic is an ensemble that specializes in round writing, sonifications of cosmic and natural phenomena, and musical settings of ancient poetry. In 2015, the group released their debut album piecemeal on the solstices and equinoxes on www.a-round-the-sun.com and in 2019 they released an album of songs based on verses of the Tao Te Ching entitled In the Universe.
Desert Magic has also spent years developing Dance of the Planets, a theatrical solar system sonification which involves paper-mache planet hats and guitar patterns mapped to the orbital speeds of the planets. In addition to a live sound installation, they have released an interactive web app for the piece in collaboration with coder Luke Williams: danceoftheplanets.com/web. For this show, Desert Magic will showcase their latest project, a new collection of songs that primarily uses Ursula Le Guin’s version of the Tao Te Ching as text. Desert Magic’s current line-up is Alex Wand (viola da gamba, resonator guitar, voice), Steven Van Betten (electric guitar, voice), Logan Hone (drums, saxophone, voice), Heather Lockie (viola), Stuart Wheeler (voice, organ), Mustafa Walker (hurdy gurdy, lute), Jessica Hemingway (dance), and Brock Stuessi (upright bass).