Interdependency 23 (for piano and computer)
Travis Garrison, composer/performer
Point, counterpoint. Action, response, feedback. Who controls whom?
Travis Garrison is a composer, audio engineer, and performer of electroacoustic music, and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Music Technology at UCM. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and worked as an audio engineer and taught courses at East Carolina University and Bennington College. A common thread throughout his work as a composer and performer is a blurring of the boundaries between things organic and things electronic, between the actual and the imagined, and between the real and the hyperreal. His work as a recording/editing/mixing/mastering engineer and producer is represented on a number of commercially available recordings in the areas of classical and experimental music, and he has worked in live sound reinforcement in venues across the country. Current research interests include computer-based improvisational systems and aesthetics, history, and theory of electroacoustic music.
Garrison’s compositions have been performed at many festivals and conferences including the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Symposium on Arts and Technology at Connecticut College, the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) national conference, and the Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) Festival. His work selectric metal is included on the “Electronic Masters Vol. 3” album released in 2014 by ABLAZE Records, and the piece was also awarded Honorable Mention in the 2012 SCI/ASCAP Student Commission Competition. He currently serves as Technical Director of the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival and as the CD Series Editor for the Society of Composers, Inc. Dr. Garrison holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition with a cognate in Historical Musicology from the University of Florida, an M.A. in Electroacoustic Music from Dartmouth College, and a B.A. in Computer Music and Composition from the University of California, San Diego.
Paradigm Shift
Cecilia Suhr: concept, music, video art, and performance
Martin Ritter: technical and programming support
Paradigm Shift is loosely inspired by a fundamental concept in quantum field theory which wrestles with the various notions of reality: visible vs. invisible, physical vs. non-physical reality, and 0 and 1 reality. The music is partially composed with a virtual instrument called a quantum oscillator whereby the different numbers of harmonics, order, and frequencies produce a unique sound wave accordingly. Transitioning from a parochial way of defining visible reality as the only reality, this performance specifically addresses the notion of manipulation of reality by narrative control in the media-saturated world. The 3D cube represents a three-dimensional world where one only lives with limited senses and understanding of the world shaped by the selected media representation. Therefore the person is trapped in a prison cell (seen as a 3-d cube box), blinded by the multitude of worldviews and perceptions. Throughout the performance, the 3-d box captures the view from the live audience seat (audiences are seen inside the box), and it moves and expands, reacting to the live improvisational violin sound in an effort to break free from the 3-dimensional reality and takes a quantum leap to perceive reality in a new dimension and perspective. Overall, this audio-visual intermedia performance demonstrates the paradigm shift in order to free oneself from the enslavement of parochial perceptions and manipulations of minds. (Technical and Programming support by Martin Ritter.)
Cecilia Suhr is an intermedia artist and researcher, multi-instrumentalist (violin/cello/voice/piano), audio-visual composer, improviser, painter, and author. Her work has been featured in venues such as NYCEMF, ICMC, SEAMUS, Festival of Contemporary Art Music, Splice Festival, Society of Composers, Hot Air Music Festival, EMM, Moxonic, Beast Feast, ISSTA, Performing Media Arts Festival, Oh My Ear Festival, iDMAa, Audio Mostly Conference, among many others. She is the winner of the Pauline Oliveros Award from the International Alliance for Women in Music and the Bronze Medal Winner from the 2022 Global Music Awards. She is also the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation DML Research Grant Award (2012). Other honors include an Honorable Mention from the NYC International Fine Art Contest (2016), a People’s Choice Award from Pop Revolution Gallery, Mason, OH (2015), a Saint Michael Special Achievement Medal from the International Juried Fine Arts Exhibition (2013), a Special Recognition Award from the International Abstracts Art Competition, Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery (2012). She is the author of “Social Media and Music” ( Peter Lang Press, 2012) and “Evaluation and Credentialing in Digital Music Communities” (MIT Press, 2014). Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Creative Arts at Miami University Regionals, Ohio.
Steps 1 & 2
Barry Moon, composer
Peiyao Yu, Piano
12 Steps is based on my experience in Alcoholics Anonymous. I’m obviously not real great at the anonymous part of the program. The first two steps are presented here. In the AA program, these steps entail:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
In my rendition, I have attempted to represent Step 1 through a modernist sounding piano part that is at odds with the electronic sounds which are mostly borrowed from Freesound. I hope this culminates in a sense of unmanageability.
Step 2 is represented by a repeating bass line, in the tradition of a passacaglia. For me, the aspect of a higher power that helps me sustain a healthier attitude is that of infinite time and space. It is easy to contrast this “reality” with the thoughts, feelings, and actions that lead to my unhappiness. Repetition is one way to represent the eternal.
Barry Moon has been combining various forms of art and technology for the past 25+ years. His primary focus is on creating meaningful interactions between humans and computers. He has worked in several collaborations with other artists, and while sound is his central focus, he also works with video, sculpture, dance, data, etc. Barry teaches in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance program at Arizona State University.
A pianist based in Kansas and specialising in contemporary works, Peiyao Yu has recently completed her D.M.A. degree under Dr. Jack Winerock and Dr. Michael Kirkendoll at the University of Kansas. In 2018, she soloed with orchestra, performing Tchaikovsky piano concerto No.1, in “Santa Cecilia” Hall, Perugia, Italy. She has also held multiple recitals in both China, USA and Europe. She was selected to participate in New Music On the Point in Vermont, USA, Music Festival Perugia in Italy and Shanghai International Piano Festival & Institute in China. Peiyao was the first prize winner at Classical Music Competition of Charleston International Competition and Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition in 2022. In 2021, she was selected as the Best Schumann Performance and Best Prokofiev Performance in International Music Competitions. As a contemporary pianist, she has been fortunate enough to play for composers such as Eve Beglarian, Amy Beth Kirsten, Trevor Weston, Amy Williams.
Peiyao holds a masters degree with Dr. Arthur Greene at the University of Michigan. During her master years, she double majored in both piano performance and chamber music performance. She also discovered her talent on organ with Dr. James Kibbie and Dr. James Higdon and was specially selected to join a unique, interdisciplinary research focusing on analyzing how data science can interpret music during master years. Starting from Fall 2022, she will continue exploring her passion in organ performance, studying with Dr. Higdon for a new M.M. degree in Church Music. When not devoted into music, Peiyao enjoys detective stories, great food and crocheting. She is also the website director of KU’s Asian Classical Music Initiative.
moth maidens
Benjamin Damann, composer
Elliott Godinez, multi-percussion
Elliott Godinez (b. 1995) is a first-generation Mexican-American percussionist based in Washington, D. C. who advocates for equality in music through education. His award-winning musical output includes multiple recordings and commissions with contemporary composers and artists. As a performer, he seeks to create thought-provoking experiences for his listeners and to change their expectations of what percussive instruments are capable of. Elliott is an in-demand educator, having served as Music Director for the New Holland-Middletown (IL) school district, Assistant Band Director at University HS (IL), and a Percussion Instructor within Fairfax County Public Schools (VA). Currently he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).
Benjamin Damann is a composer, percussionist, and music technologist. His works — inspired by probability, indeterminacy, improvisation, and the timbral manipulation of acoustic instruments through physical preparation and electroacoustic augmentation — have been performed throughout the United States and Europe.
He is devoted to realizing electronic, experimental, and graphical works for percussion as well as programming software to aid in the performance of such works. Benjamin holds a BM in percussion performance with a concentration in composition from Eastern Illinois University, an MM in Composition from Bowling Green State University, and is currently pursuing his PhD from the University of North Texas.
To the Deep (and back again)
Ted King-Smith, composer/performer
This piece is part of a series of new songs/works written for myself to perform on saxophone, synth, or computer. To the Deep utilizes lots of found-sounds a coffee roasting for percussive elements as well as a Korg MS-20 for the melodic content and live performance. Musically this work also employs lots of electroacoustic techniques, but in a style that more closely resembles modern electronica or hip-hop.
Ted King-Smith is a composer, educator, and saxophonist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a composer he is interested in the combination of acoustic and electronic forces in music, and emphasizes virtuosity and improvisation in his works. Recent recognition for his music has come from The National Band Association, I Care if You Listen, the American Prize, and BMI. Ted’s music has been featured at numerous conferences and festivals as well as Late Night at National Sawdust, and WFMT and WKCR radio stations. He holds degrees from the Hartt School of Music, Washington State University, and the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Ted is a full-time instructor in Audio Production at Milwaukee Area Technical College where he teaches courses in music technology and recording. He has also been active as a performer with the Mnemosyne Quartet, and founded the Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival in 2017 with the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
together it sustains
Benjamin Baker, composer
Terry Andrews, flute
Isabella Curie, oboe
Stephen Borodkin, clarinet
Brianna Volkmann, horn
Dennis Pearson, bassoon
together it sustains consists of three main musical and visual phases. Each phase is
governed by a set of musical rules that affect the video based on performers’ choices.
Musical choices made in phases I and II affect the video in real time and will also have
consequences on the final visuals in Phase Three.
Benjamin Baker is a composer and performer currently based out of Kansas City, MO. Ben’s music comes from a place at the intersection of spontaneous improvisation and traditional storytelling structure and includes works written for both concert ensembles and popular music groups, drawing influence from a multitude of genres and styles. Using contemporary pop music language with modern compositional techniques, Ben’s works paint serious atmospheres while still remaining playful and uplifting.
As a performer, Ben appears on multiple freelance recording works and is a standing member of the Extemporaneous Music Society of Kansas City. He was recently awarded the 2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award for his piece PRIMORDIAL (2019) for alto saxophone and live electronics. Ben has written for performers such as the SPLICE Ensemble, Quince Ensemble and Patchwork Duo, and received his undergraduate degree in music composition from Ohio University. He is currently attaining his MM in Composition at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.