- Christopher Cook • Birds • piano and electronics • 5
- Eric Lyon • The Adventures of Peter the Dolphin • 15
- Ashkan Tabatabaie • Time Traveler • e-guitar, electronics, and projection. • 6.5
- Timothy W. McDunn • Fantasy for Vagrant Clarinet • 8
- CAPJAWS (Christopher Poovey and J. Andrew Wright Smith) • Electroacoustic Thingamajig No. 1 • 8
- Drew Farrar • Ouija • for 2 violas and live electronics • 10
- Rodrigo Cadiz • Ellipsis • for arcontinuo and video • 6.5
- Total: 63 mins
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Birds
piano and electronics
Christopher Cook
Pianist Mary Hellmann finds that during her practice sessions at home, many birds will visit the open studio window. Although good musical company, there are some that will compete with the piano as they impressively display their melodic skills with increasing gusto. The result can be a somewhat chaotic but enjoyable cacophony. The electronic part of Birds was composed largely of recorded bird and piano sounds.
Many composers have been inspired by birdsong. Homages to two such composers are included in the solo piano part. Stravinsky’s wren and Messian’s cardinal transcriptions appear briefly. Birds was written for Mary Hellmann.
Christopher Cook is associate professor of music at Chowan University where he teaches music theory and composition, music technology, music industry, directs the university jazz band, and serves as president of the faculty senate. He received the Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University where he served as assistant director of the Center for Electronic and Computer Music. He is a recipient of a Fromm Music Foundation commission from Harvard University and has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the Music Teachers National Association, and the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies. He has served as Composer-in-Residence at James Madison University, Amherst College, the University of Evansville, the Monroe County Community Schools Corporation (Indiana), and for the city of Somerset, Pennsylvania. His compositions are widely performed at national and international universities and festivals.
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The Adventures of Peter the Dolphin
Eric Lyon
In the mid-1960s a NASA-funded project attempted to communicate with dolphins in preparation for communication with extraterrestrial beings. The results were inconclusive.
Eric Lyon is a composer and audio researcher. His software includes “FFTease” and “LyonPotpourri.” He is the author of “Designing Audio Objects for Max/MSP and Pd,” and “Automated Sound Design,” a book that presents technical processes for implementing oracular synthesis and sound processing across a wide domain of audio applications. Lyon’s work has been recognized with a ZKM Giga-Hertz prize, MUSLAB award, the League ISCM World Music Days competition, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Lyon is Professor of Practice in the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech, and is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.
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Time Traveler
e-guitar, electronics, and projection.
Ashkan
This piece is inspired by the Time Travel track from the iconic Sega game Ecco the Dolphin. It is the first in a series of works that incorporate electric guitar, fixed media electronics, and projection mapping on the guitar. In this composition, the electric guitar represents Ecco swimming in the ocean, performing flips and jumps while producing various calls such as whistles and clicks. The fixed electronic sounds are designed to evoke the underwater world, utilizing various pads and rhythmic elements reminiscent of dolphin and other aquatic sounds. Future pieces in this series will feature music that is more interactive with the visuals, undergoing dramatic changes in response to the sound. Additionally, the electric guitar in these works will incorporate real-time continuous automation that aligns with the projections. “Time Traveler” marks my initial exploration of this style of mixed media combination.
Ashkan Tabatabaie is an interdisciplinary composer, performer, scholar, and media entrepreneur. He has composed instrumental, electroacoustic, and creative multimedia pieces that have been commissioned and/or presented by premier ensembles and festivals in the US and internationally. Ashkan’s scholarly research focuses on the intersection of music technology, theory, and composition, as well as music cognition. He actively collaborates with scientists and artists from various fields to discover and establish untapped pathways of writing and performing music evident in Ashkan’s compositions and scholarly writings. He has presented and published co-authored articles in conferences and journals such as the Future Direction of Music Cognition, Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, OpenWest, and MOXsonic, among others. Ashkan holds a PhD in composition, and he completed a year-long postdoctoral research assistantship in the field of auditory perception and physiology. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music/Sound and Digital Media Arts at the New College of Florida.
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Fantasy for Vagrant Flute
Timothy W. McDunn
aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio.
“Eternity, therefore, is the full and complete possession of life unending in a single moment.”
—Boethius, Consolatio Philosophiae
Many of my works are more like sculptures than pieces of music. I build them kind of like an architect, with emphasis on symmetrical structures, which have little relation to time. In the past, however, I’ve composed a prescribed path for performers and listeners to follow through the geometric designs in each piece. In this work, my relationship to space and time has changed. The path taken through the design is not controlled by me — just as, in plastic arts, the vagrant eye of a viewer is not constrained by the dictates of a sculptor.
The piece is dedicated to my beautiful wife, the source of my inspiration and all my passion.
Timothy W. McDunn (b. 1994) is a composer and theorist with a distinguished international profile. He specializes in just intonation and electroacoustic composition. His music and research is regularly presented and performed at major peer-reviewed conferences and festivals including NYCEMF, SEAMUS, SCI National Conference, Convergence, MOXSonic, ChimeFest, NSEME, and others. His background in classical languages and literature strongly influences his work as a composer. He holds a DMA in Composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and a Biennio Degree in Composition from the Verdi Conservatory of Milan. His education also includes a Bachelor of Music in Composition and a Bachelor of Arts in Greek and Roman Studies. McDunn currently teaches music theory and composition full-time at Wheaton College. He resides in Glendale Heights with his wife, Jasmine—the most selfless, supportive, and objectively beautiful woman in the world. His music is influenced by elements of philosophy, faith, and spirituality.
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Electroacoustic Thingamajig No. 1
CAPJAWS (Christopher Poovey and J. Andrew Wright Smith)
Electroacoustic Thingamajig No. 1 is a collaborative instrument designed for complex interactive improvisations between an electronic sound and voice. Its design emphasizes flexibility and responsive sound driven by real-time data analysis. The vocal performer has immediate control over the sounds of the instrument, choosing details of the live electronic processing through their timbral and gestural choices. Meanwhile, the electronics performer has more large-scale control, influencing both the gestalt sound world and the progression of sonic events over the course of the improvisation. These paradigms are malleable, changing dynamically depending on the nature of the performance. Electroacoustic Thingamajig No. 1 is a musical sandbox for exploration, discovery, and collaboration.
CAPJAWS is an electroacoustic music duo consisting of Christopher Alex Poovey (electronics and keyboards) and Jonathan Andrew Wright Smith (voice and electronics) focused on interactive collaborative instruments and dynamic improvisations.
We explore eclectic electronic sounds, juxtaposing their timbral differences through responsive live processing.
An educator, composer, electronic musician, and vocalist from Atlanta, GA, J. Andrew Wright Smith (b. 1992) is zealous about the intersections between acousmatic sound, live performers, and improvisation. Currently Assistant Professor of Instruction in Music Technology at the University of Texas San Antonio, J. Andrew lives in San Antonio with his dog, Auggie, his cat, George, and his loving wife, Anna.
Christopher Alex Poovey (b. 1993) is a media artist and technologist who focuses on creating interactive systems, complex timbres, and XR installations. He currently works as a software engineer at Reality Labs Research and has taught at Oberlin conservatory in TIMARA. Christopher lives in Seattle with his two dogs Rose and Sterling, as well as his husband Anthony.
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Ouija
for 2 violas and live electronics
Drew Farrar
Ouija is inspired by ouija boards. The performers are asked to placed their instruments on a table use glass slides to play, turning the instruments into ouija boards themselves. The piece explores concepts of agency and embodiment, as the electronics and acoustic sound gradually become more and more separated throughout the piece going from embodied sound to disembodiment.
Drew Farrar is a composer, guitarist, and educator from St. Louis, Missouri, currently based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Farrar’s music often incorporates physical movement, quotation, and spectral techniques to explore concepts of agency and otherness. His works have been performed by the RE:duo, Confluss Duo, the Illinois Modern Ensemble, and New Music Mosaic.
Farrar also performs regularly as a guitarist with performances at CHIMEfest, New Music on the Point, and the 21st Century Guitar Festival. An avid improviser, he has performed with Renee Baker, Adam Shead’s Adiaphora Orchestra, the Avant-Gardians and Illinois Improvisors Exchange.
In 2020 Farrar co-founded New Music Mosaic where he currently serves as Director. He also serves as co-host alongside Stephen Caldwell of New Music Mosaic’s Mosaic Reviewcast a monthly review podcast.
Farrar received his M.M. in composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Dr.s Rick Taube, Erik Lund, Kerrith Livengood, and Carlos Carrillo. He received his M.M. in Guitar Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied with Dr. Guido Sanchez-Portuguez. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Composition at Louisiana State University where he studies with Dr.s Mara Gibson, Jesse Allison, D.J. Sparr, and Christopher Trapani.
Current research interests include effects pedals, spectralism, computer assisted composition, and interactive sound installation.
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Ellipsis
for arcontinuo and video
Rodrigo Cadiz
Ellipsis is a piece for Arcontinuo and live computer music. Ellipsis is derived from Orbitae, a piece for Arcontinuo and Laptop Orchestra.
Rodrigo F. Cádiz studied engineering (BSc) and composition (BA) at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC) and obtained his Ph.D. in Music Technology from Northwestern University. He has composed around 70 works for different formats and authored about 70 scientific publications in indexed journals and international conferences. His music has been presented at several venues and festivals around the world. He has received several artistic creation and research grants. In 2018, he was a Tinker Visiting Professor at Stanford University. In 2019, he obtained the Excellence in Artistic Creation Prize from UC. He is currently full professor with a joint appointment at both the Music Institute and the Department of Electrical Engineering at UC in Santiago, Chile.