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Bridge Funk
For whom the bridge tolls
By Bob Rozycki

Flash & Video by John Walicki


Theres heavy metal and then theres the kind of heavy metal that Joseph Bertolozzi plays.
Call it heaviest metal.

His choice of instrument is big; bigger than any pipe organ hes ever sat at before.

Its built like a harp, but has the tones of percussives, not unlike the collection of gongs and cymbals in his Beacon home.

It, is the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

But before anyone dismisses him as quirky or worse, Bertolozzi may be onto something. After all, the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called architecture frozen music.

Bertolozzi studied music at Vassar College, played pipe organs in cathedrals in Europe including St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City composed music for numerous venues from theater to orchestra, and now has sampled and scored the sounds elicited from the bridge using his numerous hammers, sticks and custom-made, fleece-covered wood mallet.

After creating and scoring Bridge Funk, Bertolozzi has even grander designs; he wants to celebrate the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial in 2009 by performing multiple pieces on the bridge with the help of perhaps a dozen musicians.

It wouldnt be the first time he has performed in a public setting. In 2004, he wrote Wings of Eagles for the city of Poughkeepsies 150th anniversary. To give the music an airy note in homage to the works title, he placed trumpeters on the rooftops of buildings in the plaza bordered by the post office, Poughkeepsie Journal building and Police Department. The finale included the ringing of church bells throughout the downtown.

Right now, the composer has his work cut out for him as he tries to elicit corporate sponsorships for his grand endeavor. He already has some support not surprisingly from the New York State Bridge Authority and engineering firms, but also from doctors, lawyers and supporters of the arts such as the Dutchess County Arts Council, as well as Dutchess County Tourism and TEG Federal Credit Union.

Hes literally a one-man band as he writes letters and proposals and tries to get the word out for his massive performance on the river. His intent is for the audience to gather in Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie on the banks of the Hudson where they can witness the performance via audio feeds to two speaker towers and a video transmission that will be displayed on a Jumbo Tron, a giant video screen similar to those in Times Square. Bertolozzi intends to have several performances of what will be an hour-long suite during the weekend of Sept. 5-7, 2009.

But living in the digital age, Bertolozzi doesnt intend to keep his work confined to the river banks. He would also like to make the performance available worldwide via Internet streaming and television and radio hookups.

To read the full story goto http://www.hvbiz.biz/bridgefunk/

Those wishing to support Bertollozi can do so by contacting him at bluewingspress@optonline.net. His Web site is josephbertolozzi.com.