Iowa-based laptop ambient musician plays the New Bohemia Solar Project Installation Ceremony

Mark Rushton, a laptop ambient musician, performed on recently at the New Bohemia Solar Project Installation Ceremony in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The set list included 21 original pieces of music and the entire sound system was powered by solar energy.

(PRLEAP.COM and iNewsWire) A sunny morning set the stage for the dedication of the New Bohemia Solar Project in downtown Cedar Rapids on Friday, September 9th. Dignitaries included Cedar Rapids Mayor Paul Pate and an official from the Department of Energy. Music before and after the ceremony was provided by Cedar Rapids ambient musician Mark Rushton.

Rushton pre-arranged completed pieces of original music on his laptop, created a set list using iTunes, and played it through a sound system - all of which was powered by a portable solar array brought by the Iowa Renewable Energy Association.

The New Bohemia Solar Project is a collaboration between I-Renew and Alliant Energy, The City of Cedar Rapids, the Thorland Company, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, with funding provided by the United States Department of Energy. The partners have come together to erect a solar array in the "New Bohemia" neighborhood on the Southeast side of Cedar Rapids, which will provide 7200 watts of electricity to Alliant Energy’s Second Nature customers while serving as an educational tool and a visual symbol of the neighborhoods rebirth as the creative center of Iowa’s Technology Corridor.

Rushton regularly performs improvisational ambient music every third Saturday of the month with others at the Matyk Building, 1029 3rd St SE, in downtown Cedar Rapids. The loose-knit group is known as Ambient Matyk. Their web site can be found at http://ambient.markrushton.com

Some of Ambient Matyk’s music can be found on Rushton’s podcasts, which can be downloaded for free at http://podcast.markrushton.com

For pictures of the dedication ceremony, visit: http://www.markrushton.com/music/live/050909.htm

For more information about The New Bohemia Solar Project, visit: http://www.gotoplanb.net/newbosopro.html