Sweet Music for Tallahassee
Sweet Music for Tallahassee: KCCI’s Red Hills Rhythm Project is Tuned and Ready to Go!
The Tallahassee landscape will soon resonate with the sounds of “Red Hills Rhythm,” the latest KCCI endeavor that aims to make positive change for residents and visitors. The 2019 volunteer team of KCCI Community Catalysts is developing “Red Hills Rhythm”—an engaging, public, musical experience that will help turn the Coal Chute stormwater pond into a place of connectivity.
Since they first got together in January, the catalysts have conducted research, engaged in community conversations and sorted out creative details. Their design builds upon other successful music parks but is customized for Tallahassee. It reflects input from a broad constituency yet will “sing” to each individual visitor. It is both harmonic in its overall composition anddelicate in each note.
“We are proud of our work that reaches out to a multi-faceted audience that will learn about and play music,” states Tatiana Daguillard, KCCI Catalyst spearheading the musical history walk component of the project.
The KCCI catalysts come from a wide range of backgrounds; however, they all have three things in common – enthusiasm for the arts, love for music and commitment to their city and county. KCCI Catalyst team facilitator, Lauren Wallace, remarks:
We are 12 very unique individuals who over the last 14 weeks were able to come together to present one unified vision. Our team could not be more proud of the evolution and collaboration that has taken place since our first meeting in January. We are eager to share more as the project unfolds, and we cannot wait to connect the community in ways Tallahassee has yet to experience.
On May 2, the KCCI team presented renderings and an overview of “Red Hills Rhythm” to Blueprint, Tallahassee’s intergovernmental agency responsible for the redevelopment of the Capital Cascades Trail, FAMU Way and Coal Chute Pond where the KCCI project will be located. The KCCI team project recommendations include four major components: an interactive percussion ensemble, The Garden, a shaded pavilion, and a musical history walk.
The percussion ensemble greets Coal Chute Pond visitors with four interactive music elements: tutti, tembro, marimba table, and tongue drums. The Garden is a contemplative area that will include a cluster of calming gongs. The shaded pavilion is a welcome respite from the sun for drum circles and other musical performances. The musical history walk will complement Blueprint’s Cascades History Trail and tell the tale of Tallahassee’s rich musical heritage.
Blueprint officials were overwhelmingly positive about the “Red Hills Rhythm” presentation. The 2019 KCCI Catalysts look forward to working with Blueprint and to beginning the final stages of planning and construction for a music park that will offer Tallahasseeans a place to play, learn, and relax. And the beat goes on . . .