Sonic Massage

Kenny Wollesen bent intently over a strange object in a room that looked like a bizarre mash-up of a steampunk novel and a child’s playroom. Scattered around the rehearsal space were suitcases slathered with colorful stickers, seashells, tin cans and one unicycle with a leopard-printed seat.

Wollesen lifted the unicycle over his head triumphantly and posed for a picture, remarking that the show later that evening would be great.

That unicycle, along with all of the other paraphernalia, according to Wollesen, could be applied to music.

Since 2008, Kenny Wollesen and Wollesonic Laboratories, a collection of artists and musical inventors, have developed instruments that gave birth to a peculiar type of concert called a “sonic massage.”

“Sonic massage is a 100-percent acoustic auditory experience where the music is produced by these instruments that I built,” said Wollesen. “It’s a touchless massage with sound.”

The instruments little resemble anything with which a classical orchestra would dare experiment. The odd contraptions emit ultra-low volume notes that connect and collide to create a sort-of auditory kaleidoscope.

Quite unlike a traditional performance, the sonic massage invites audience members to either sit or lie on the floor of the Cafritz Foundation Theatre in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The music will then come to them as Wollesen and a “band” of five or six other instrumentalists move around the room with strange sound-makers and striking percussion.

While Wollesen said a regular performance experience is fine, he describes his sonic massage as “inimitable.” 

“This has the musicians coming into the audience and delivering the music directly in people’s ears,” he said. “Everybody is listening to a different thing than the person that’s next to them.”

A “palate cleanser for your ears,” the sonic massage mesmerizes and focuses the listener. Special effects and lighting changes add to the experience that Wollesen describes as “audio hallucination.”

“Think of it as if you went to go see some music, but the music just blew your mind, and it was amazing,” said Wollesen. “I’ve had people tell me that it unlocks their imagination.”

The Sonic Massage by Wollesonic Laboratories is tonight from 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. and again from 9:30-10:15 p.m. in the Cafritz Foundation Theatre at The Clarice.