Silent Echoes of Notre Dame at Villa Albertine New York

Since the beginnings of the 1970s, Bay Area sound artist Bill Fontana’s work has focused on amplified sounds in various settings. 

After a fire destroyed the roof and spire of Notre Dame in Paris, largely silencing the once-active cathedral, Bill Fontana thought of giving the historic site its voice back as part of its reconstruction. 

With his sound sculpture “Silent Echoes of Notre Dame,” the resonating vibrations of the bells of Notre-Dame will be transmitted live through loudspeakers, thanks to sound sensors installed on the bells. Emmanuel, the oldest bell of Notre Dame, and nine other bells will ring through this installation after being silenced during restorative work on the cathedral.

This work will be presented at Villa Albertine’s New York headquarters at 972 5th Avenue on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26. On Saturday, Fontana will give three presentations on his installation at 11:30 am, 2:30 pm and 5 pm.

As part of the festival ManiFeste-2022, “Silent Echoes of Notre-Dame” will also be presented at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from June 8-July 2, on the 5th floor south terrace, facing the towers of Notre-Dame.

To execute this project, Bill Fontana worked alongside with IRCAM, which is part of the Centre Pompidou, and with researchers supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.