Accolades

Artist Testimonials

Amidst an expanding universe of diverse musical experience, IGE Music and Art Immersions are unique. Neither music festivals nor tour gigs by musicians of the artist collective, Immersions are ephemeral roving artist colonies.
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Unlike other musical destination events, Immersions are philanthropic, communitarian, fully collaborative in conception, design, execution and enjoyment. Limited to a maximum of 90 guests, each takes two years to develop and represents work of hundreds of individuals. In addition to regular IGE location visits, programming relies on local creative, logistic and production support teams, indigenous artist communities and IGE nonprofit partners.
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Immersive environments are crafted by artists for artists. Exotic locales, historic art and architecture, diverse performance spaces, European musician residencies and group adventures decontextualize participants from the mundane. Artists are freed to create. Guests, eyewitnesses to multiple historic musical moments are integral components of the organic process.
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There is much we can say about what Immersions mean to members of the artist collective, but their reflections best reveal their experiences:

"Thrown into the mix, into the fire with some familiar faces and some not. The excitement is risk and reward, trying new things, not necessarily with rehearsals. The uniqueness is small, intimate, carefully selected European venues, different lineups of musicians including a broad range of great European players. - all creating an excitement you don’t get stateside! To play in places you would never have the opportunity to play in the states - tiny clubs, underground ancient buildings, palaces, museums, world heritage sites and even on the beach- it could not be more different from what we do in the states. Mixing it up with different musicians in a range of unique venues! Muy Rica - very rich!"

Paul Hoffman - Greensky Bluegrass

"The coolest thing about all these spaces that we’ve been in is that they’re all completely different than anything you’d get to play in the States or anything that would be on the regular circuit. I wasn’t sure how playing in a museum would go. It was definitely my first museum gig. But the European Museum of Modern Art is one of those spaces where you play one note on the piano and even though it’s barely amplified the note will just go on forever and just carry on the air all the way through all these rooms and chambers. It’s this beautiful old palace in a city with tons and tons of history. You can just feel that. It permeates everything, every single venue and each one of these experiences."

Holly Bowling - Ghost Light

"The lines are really blurred between musicians, friends, fans - everyone’s in it together. I like that you can’t get away. I like being in it together with people you don’t necessarily know. Musically it's special. I play with my band Greensky Bluegrass every night. But here I begin a set with Paul, and then suddenly we’re playing with the String Cheese and creating a new band - Greensky Incident - just for one night and only for those we are in it with together. This just doesn’t happen anywhere else. It doesn’t happen in the US, but it does in an ancient Flamenco palace in Barcelona. Making some Green Cheese, It doesn’t sound tasty, but it sure is?"

Anders Beck - Greensky Bluegrass

"I didn’t know quite what to expect. I love to play many different styles of music - a blessing and curse throughout my career. One day I’ll want to play bluegrass and acoustic music; the next I’ll want to play jazz, then funk and soul and rock and roll. It’s really fun for me to jump around with all these great players who are so well versed in those styles. I’ve jammed with many of these guys, but in Barcelona we get to know one another. The great thing about this process is that we’re playing with each other, practicing with each other, learning each other’s’ songs, but then we’re also getting to see each other’s music. So many times, we see each other in passing at a festival or here or there. We never really get time to listen. Here we are all together hanging out. We’re getting to know each other in a deeper way as we listen to and experience these great musicians’ music. And of course there are all these amazing European players we never would have met, heard or jammed with."

Eric Krasno - Soulive, Lettuce

"It’s a wonderful opportunity to see cities and really get deep into them. I’ve visited them, but we don’t have an opportunity to see the music scene of the city, to see the Grateful Dead scene and the American roots music scene in a city across the Atlantic. It’s also pretty great to hang out and jam with musicians that I know and don’t know, all of us brought together in different formations to try cool things. We’re all on the road a lot so we know each other but never get to spend real time together and to meet one another’s spouses and have adventures together, so this is such a pleasure. All of this is why we block the time out and make the IGE trips a priority."

Grahame Lesh - Terrapin Family Band, Midnight North

"Every minute is jam packed with music, art and culture - the whole point of it."

Elliott Peck - Terrapin Family Band, Midnight North

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