Vermont UCAN Welcomes Volunteer-Run Music Office into Internet2 Community: Big Heavy World to Create Opportunities for Vermont Musicians with Advanced Networking
Press Release by Big Heavy World.
Big Heavy World is stepping into a new world of connectivity by announcing their participation in Vermont UCAN, the regional arm of the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network, which connects over 90,000 community anchor institutions (schools, museums, libraries, community centers, healthcare, etc.) to Internet2. Internet2 is a nationwide research and education network which is 100 times faster than current next-generation 1 Gigabit networks and supports next-generation network technologies such as software defined networking. Vermont UCAN is made possible through a public-private collaboration between Vermont EPSCoR which promotes and manages the network, the University of Vermont which provides the Internet2 connectivity and technical expertise, and seven internet service providers which connect their clients to the network.
Big Heavy World is Vermont’s independent music office, promoting and archiving Vermont-made music of all kinds with a staff of mostly high school and college-aged volunteers. Founded in 1996, it’s an inclusive and entrepreneurial community-supported effort to foster Vermont’s arts community and find new audiences for it. See bigheavyworld.com.
Internet2, and the technologies it supports, provides video connectivity with minimal latency (delay), making it possible for musicians to practice, jam, and perform together as if they were in the same room. Big Heavy World plans to help establish opportunities for Vermont’s rural musicians to create and perform music together virtually, using technology to make distance irrelevant and bring music-makers together. ‘Big Heavy’ also hopes to demonstrate the advanced Internet2 as a tool for sharing Vermont’s music with other cities that have advanced networks.
Dr. Patrick Clemins, Cyber Specialist for Vermont EPSCoR and Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont says, “Big Heavy World has created a platform for educating young Vermonters and for connecting them to the arts and culture community to build collaborations and support economic development. Vermont EPSCoR is excited to support such a unique organization and its participation in VT UCAN.”
James Lockridge, Executive Director of Big Heavy World, says, “From its first days of streaming concerts in the mid-1990s, Big Heavy World has sought to harness emerging technologies to support our regional music scene and provide a compelling educational environment to our young volunteers. It’s a dream come true to access Internet2 and the potential to connect musical artists across the state and the country for virtual music-making. Building community is about bringing people together, and it’s evolutionary to be poised to connect rural musicians with one another like never before.”
For more information contact: James Lockridge, Big Heavy World, jim@bigheavyworld.com, (802) 865-1140 Patrick J. Clemins, Vermont EPSCoR, patrick.clemins@uvm.edu, (802) 448-2188
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