User:Sarahplant/William Close (instrument creator)

William Close (Instrument Creator) William Close (born January 22, 1970 in New York) is an American installation artist, instrument creator and musician who lives and works in Malibu, California.

He is the inventor of the Earth Harp, said to be the worlds largest stringed instrument. He is also the inventor of The Drum Orb, The Percussion Jacket, The Violin Jacket, The Aquatar, and the Wing Harp. William is the Founder and Artistic Director of MASS Ensemble. MASS creates high production music stage shows based around Close’s unique instrument designs. Close’s work seeks to explore the connection between architecture and music. Inspired by the quote “architecture is frozen music”, Close creates musical installations that use the architecture as part of the instrument. He has developed two Symphonic houses working with architects to build the musical instruments into the architecture. William studied sculpture and sound design at the Art Institute of Chicago. His installations and performances have been experienced through out the world, including performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York, the Coliseum in Rome, The Grand Theater in Macau and Hong Kong.