William

Installation artist, musician and visionary who has developed over one hundred new musical instruments including the famed Earth Harp. The body of The Earth Harp rests on the stage while the strings travel over the audience, extending up to 1000 ft. in length, and attach to the back of the venue, turning every space into an instrument. The Earth Harp earned William a finalist slot on the TV show America’s Got Talent and was recently named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest playable stringed musical instrument. William studied sculpture and sound design at the Art Institute of Chicago and his work explores the connection between architecture and music. Inspired by the Frank Lloyd Wright quote “architecture is frozen music”, Close creates musical installations that use the architecture as part of the instrument. The Earth Harp has been installed in some of the most iconic destinations in the world such as The Coliseum in Rome, The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center in the US, The Seattle Space Needle, the temples of Vietnam, Grand Theater of Shanghai International Arts Festival, Brazil’s Theatro Municipal in São Paulo, The Dhow Harbour in Qatar, and major US festivals like Coachella, Bumbershoot, Burning Man and Lightning In A Bottle. Close has also created a couple permanent Earth Harp installations, one as part of Cirque du Soleil’s show “Ka” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the other as part of a 1,300 seat theater aboard the Royal Caribbean International’s ship Quantum of the Seas.  William is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Earth Harp Collective, an internationally renowned performance group that combines the creative forces of artists, musicians, dancers and aerialists.   Recent credits include:  NFL Super Bowl XLIX TailGate Party, and performances for  Google, Microsoft, Nike, Toyota, Samsung, Motorola, IBM, The Four Seasons Hotels, Proctor and Gamble, CNN, The Venetian Hotel and Casino, The Los Angeles Natural History Museum and Carnegie Science Center.

Instruments can include:

Earth Harp®

The strings of this signature instrument will reach throughout the entire venue in an amazing display of human invention and design!   The wooden resonating chamber sits in the center of the stage.  The strings go out over the audience’s head, making them feel as if they are encapsulated within the giant musical sculpture.

The Earth Harp is played with rosin gloves creating beautiful cello like tones with the use of a compression wave that is transferred in the molecules of the string.

Drum Orb®

The Drum Orb is a large 3 dimensional circular percussive instrument that incorporates various drums around a curved metal (disco ball) like sphere. The performers play the instrument in a choreographed, percussive style that adds high energy to any installation. The Drum Orb can be rigged to any suitable rigging point and is played by performers on the stage.

Drum Cloud®

Large flat, circular drums that are shaped like the sun and stars.

Bass Shield®

William’s newest and most technologically advanced instrument.  The base shield is constructed of midi drum triggers that can create an endless array of sounds, rhythmic patterns and bass lines that supplement the orchestral sounds of the Earth Harp

Aquatar®

The Aquatar is a unique three-necked guitar, featuring bass, sitar and guitar. The Aquatar is ground based and is played by one performer.

Drum Jacket®

The Drum Jacket is an interactive wearable Musical Jacket that is made of trigger pads that sound like a full percussive drum kit. The Drum Jacket is worn by one performer and can be played by that performer.