At “Requiem for the Troposphere,” held Thursday at The Kessler Theater, the audience was invited to witness a spellbinding exploration of climate change through an immersive collaboration between pianist Thiago Nascimento and Dallas-based projection team LightWare Labs. As the house lights dimmed, Nascimento, dressed as a post-apocalyptic explorer, wandered the room with a flashlight before shedding his gear and sitting at a grand piano bathed in a lone spotlight. From there, the magic unfolded.
Delicate piano melodies harmonized with breathtaking high-resolution projections that engulfed the room, transporting the audience through scenes of cosmic beauty, serene landscapes, and devastating natural disasters. From lush green forests to burning infernos, and from misty mountain ranges to melting glaciers, Nascimento’s emotive performance conveyed the power of nature’s beauty and its fury. With each crescendo, the projections — from shimmering auroras to violent storms — mirrored the environmental turmoil we face due to climate change.
In a conversation after the show, Cameron Ware from LightWare Labs explained that the performance was assembled in just 24 hours, with much of the imagery and music improvised in real time. “We hadn’t collaborated much until the day before,” he shared. Basically, it was all jazz in both music and visuals – with Courtney Ware at the helm of VJing.
Indeed, the entire experience felt like witnessing a masterpiece being crafted in the moment. As Kessler’s artistic director Jeffrey Liles described, “I wanted it to feel like real art in real time.” Through the synergy of Nascimento’s cinematic storytelling on piano and LightWare Labs’ stunning visuals, “Requiem for the Troposphere” delivered exactly that — an unforgettable night of artistry and environmental reflection.
