Category Archives: Improvisations series

T.I.:VOL 5.:MOVING SPACES

vol5_iT.I.:VOL 5.:MOVING SPACES

When : May 1th, 2014

Where: 1515 St. Catherine West EV 7.725

Starts: 7:30 pm, PWYC

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Moving Spaces (2002) – Christian Wolff (b. 1934) – Christian Wolff wrote Moving Spaces in 2002 for Loose Time, a work by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The piece is rooted in improvisation, ruled by indeterminacy, and energized by noise, silence, and electronic manipulation.

Moving Spaces consists of eight sections to be played in no specific order by any combination of instruments. The music is for 2, 3, or 4 performers, dancers, and an eight-channel sound system. With an improvisatory approach to unconventional notation, each musician explores a unique sound world that pushes the limits of their instrument and challenges listeners’ expectations of beauty.

The piece will be performed by seven improvisers from the Montreal scene: Zach Hale (electronics), Emily Lair (french horn), Molly Wreakes (french horn), Duncan Campbell (trumpet), Felix Del Tredici (bass trombone). Joining them will be the dancers Bailey Eng and Samantha Rust.

 

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Molly Wreakes – French Horn

A native of Edmonton, Molly Wreakes began her horn studies with Allene Hackleman. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University where she studies under the tutelage of Jean Gaudreault. In 2012, Molly was chosen to represent Alberta at the Canadian Music Festival where she placed second in the Brass division. She has performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Opera Nuova, the McGill Symphony Orchestra as well as other various groups. Aside from having a keen interest in orchestral and solo repertoire, Molly seeks to expand her horizons through improvisation and contemporary music.

 

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Duncan Campbell – Trumpet

Duncan Campbell, by time of your reading, will have finished his undergrad in Trumpet Performance at McGill. He is engaged in projects such as Little Suns (please visit www.littlesuns.ca for more information), solo contemporary repertoire and a recently formed baroque ensemble known as I Fiori dell’amore. His musical interests include early Russian liturgical polyphony, Balkan brass music, Karlheinz Stockhausen, German romantic songs for female voices, electronic dance music, north Indian classical music and punk rock. He aspires to write music for diverse instrumentations and with diverse approaches to genre.

 

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Emily Lair – French Horn

Originally from Gimli, Manitoba, Emily Lair is a horn player based in Montreal, Quebec, studying at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in the studio of John Zirbel. In addition to her studies in orchestral performance, Emily is an avid chamber musician and soloist who seeks to expand the role of the horn in contemporary and pop music. Emily is a three-time member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She has performed in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival, the Manitoba Underground Opera Company, and in masterclasses with James Sommerville, Julie Landsman, and Andrew Bain. She is a recipient of the Wirth Brass Scholarship at McGill University, as well as other awards from the Manitoba Arts Council and several organizations in Manitoba. After graduating from McGill University in Spring 2014, she plans to continue her studies at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California.

 

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Felix Del Tredici – Bass Trombone

A native of Montreal, Felix Del Tredici strives to push the boundaries of the bass trombone through interdisciplinary collaborations, the commissioning of new works, and improvisation. The New York Times has described Del Tredici as an “extraordinarily versatile trombonist” who gives performances that are “disturbing yet fascinating” and “hair-raisingly virtuosic”. He has studied at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, and is a member of the Fonema Consort, the New York Trombone Consort, and Ensemble Moto Perpetuo.

 

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Zachary Hale – Electronics

Zachary Hale is a Montreal-based composer and percussionist who creates and performs music that deals with live-electronics and new interfaces. His interest lies in the possibilities when the performer and technician are one in the same, and also bridging the gap between classical musicians and technology. Recent highlight performances with live-electronics include Reflecting Space III by Kenji Sakai (North American premiere), Caprices 5-6 by Luis Naón(North American premiere), and Konakte by Karlheinz Stockhausen. His current projects include the SpectraSurface interface and N[i]Quest with oboist Krisjana Thorsteinson. More information can be found at www.zachhalemusic.com.

 

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Bailey Eng – Dancer

Inspired to challenge the physical capacity of the human body, Bailey is searching to develop a style of body movement influenced by circus and acrobatics – with and through contemporary dance. She is fascinated by objects as an extension of the body; objects, like the body, also as living and breathing structures. Whether it be a circus apparatus, a physical space, or the urban environment, she challenges the function of structures and explores (path)ways of negotiating movement with architecture. The ability to move is not limited to the learned habits of performing a task. Bailey is interested in transforming the spectacular into the accustomed. How can the body and movement be absurd and disorienting, yet habitual, natural, and human? She resists the quotidian, but seeks its essence. She str e e e tches interpretation. She thrives off of the (un)restrictions of gravity. Driven by (un)limited (im)possibilities, there is no upRight or upWrong. Movement is her way of life, Body Language is what she speaks – carried by the ideal of “translation not required”.

 

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Samantha Rust – Dancer

Samantha has been dancing since she was three years old, and has studied many different dance forms such as musical theatre, tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. She has attended different workshops which include: The Pulse, Broadway Dance Theater, Dance Movement Therapy Association in Canada and many others. She received a D.E.C in Dance at Cégep St-Laurent in 2012 and she is currently teaching her eighth semester of hip-hop to elementary students at Hill Crest Academy. Her work aids in social and motor skill development, benefiting those involved, and a part of the Mentally Handicap community of Montreal. Dance is her outlet, and the best way she feels she can express herself. As an artist, Samantha would like to show how art could be used to join a community, and help develop different skills in children and adolescents. Through movement, art and music, people with disabilities can be motivated and triggered in different ways to help with every day movement and relations. Simple exercises that require them to use speech and physical movement inspired by music and visual art help in their everyday communication facilitating their interactions with others. Creating different approaches to life through Contemporary art allow for people with disabilities a chance to learn life lessons in different ways and live freely amongst others. Samantha strives to encourage open mindedness and creativity in each individual.

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T.I : VOL. 4 : SINGING IN PLACE

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T.I : VOL. 4 : SINGING IN PLACE

Singing In Place is a live performance. Improvised singing – with and without electronic processing – is used to convey the memory of walks taken. The voice is often combined with field recordings and texts.

When : April 2th, 2014

Where: 1515 St. Catherine West EV 7.725

Starts: 7:30 PM PWYC

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Viv Corringham

Viv Corringham is a British vocalist, sound artist and composer, currently based in New York , who has worked internationally since the early 1980s. Her work includes audio installations, music performances and soundwalks. She is a 2012 and 2006 McKnight Composer Fellow through American Composer Forum and has received many grants and awards. She has an MA Sonic Art from Middlesex University, London, England and is certified to teach Deep Listening by composer Pauline Oliveros. Recent work has been presented at Sound Out Festival, Melbourne Australia; Around Sound Festival, Hong Kong; Tempo Reale Festival, Florence, Italy; Soundworks, ICA, London, UK; Her Noise Festival, Tate Modern, London, UK, Abrons Arts Center, New York and Deep Listening Institute, Kingston, NY, USA 2012. Articles about her work have appeared in magazines and books: In the Field (UK), Art of Immersive Soundscapes (Canada), Organised Sound (UK), Musicworks (Canada), Playing With Words (UK) and For Those Who Have Ears (Ireland).She has performed with Pauline Oliveros, Elliott Sharp, Gino Robair, Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Eddie Prevost, Didier Petit, Andrea Parkins, Monique Buzzarte, Al Margolis, Lawrence Casserley and Charles Hayward among others, Her music appears on several labels including Innova, Deep Listening, Emanem and ARC. www.vivcorringham.org

Kathy Kennedy

She is a sound artist with formal training in visual art as well as classical singing. Her art practice generally involves the voice and issues of interface with technology, often using telephony or radio transmission. She is also involved in community art, and is a founder of the digital media center for women in Canada, Studio XX, as well as the innovative choral group for women, Choeur Maha. Her large scale sonic installation/performances for over 100 singers and radio, called “sonic choreographies,” have been performed internationally, most notably an ongoing piece called HMMM. Ms. Kennedy currently teaches electroacoustics at Concordia University. She frequently gives lectures and workshops on listening skills, acoustic ecology and vocal improvisation.

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T.I : VOL. 3: QUARTETTO TELEMATICO

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Improvised Telematic Performance with Pauline Oliveros (Birmingham, UK), Chris Chafe (CCRMA, Stanford), Doug Van Nort (Hexagram Black Box, Montreal), Jonas Braasch (CCC center, EMPAC). part of Frontiers Festival. Followed by local performance (Van Nort + guests) at the Hexagram site inside a 16-Channel overhead/under-foot haptic/sound system.

When : April 1th, 2014

Where: 1515 St. Catherine St. West, EV OS3-845/855

Starts: 2:00 PM PWYC

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Doug Van Nort

Van Nort is an experimental musician and sound artist who explores deep listening, viscerally immersive experiences and the radical sculpting of sonic materials in dialogue with his acoustic environment. He has regularly presents improvised electroacoustic music at various venues/festivals in the north american region and in the world at large; he often performs solo as well as with a wide array of artists across musical styles and artistic media. Regular collaborators include Pauline Oliveros, If, Bwana and the Composers Inside Electronics. His music appears on several labels including Deep Listening, Pogus and Zeromoon

Jonas Braasch

Dr. Braasch received a Master’s Degree in Physics from the Technical University of Dortmund in 1998, and two doctoral degrees from the University of Bochum in Electrical Engineering and Information Sciences in 2001 and Musicology in 2004. Afterwards, he worked as Assistant Professor in McGill University’s Sound Recording Program before joining Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006, where he is now Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Director of the Center for Cognition, Communication, and Culture.

Pauline Oliveros

Pauline Oliveros (born May 30, 1932, Houston, Texas) is an American accordionist and composer who is a central figure in the development of post-war electronic art music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the 1960s, and served as its director. She has taught music at Mills College, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Oliveros has written books, formulated new music theories and investigated new ways to focus attention on music including her concepts of “Deep Listening” and “sonic awareness”.

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T.I : VOL.2 : TRANSMISSIONS & RESONANCE

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T.I : VOL.2 : TRANSMISSIONS & RESONANCE

A set of improvised sonic explorations, transmission to/from the boundaries of the space. Meditations on the continuity and connectedness of resonance.

WHEN : MARCH 27TH.

WHERE: TML

TIME: 7:30, PWYC

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JULIEN OTTAVI

http://www.apo33.org/noise/doku.php
Julien Ottavi is part of a generation of audio artists to emerge in the 90\`s that indicated some of the directions that music and soundart is taking. While at art school, he organized a series of concerts, bringing international artists from the experimental scene to Nantes, drawing touring musicians to movements happening outside of Paris. This became not just a destination but a nexus for collaborations. This resulted for example in the group Formanex to perform graphical scores of electro-acoustic music, and in Apo33, an artists collective to facilitate, nurture, and disseminate creative audio practice. In this way, Julien represents the energy and initiative of a present day artist – activist through practice, organizing as performance, publishing as networking, open source and open aesthetic. This fluidity of working across boundaries of style and role are seen in his music, physical with computer, performative and reflective.

ERIN SEXTON

http://erinsexton.com/
Montreal-based artist Erin Sexton explores matter, energy, space, and time through sound, performance, installation, and video. Playing between theoretical (meta)physics and experimental (al)chemistry, her raw post-minimalist approach embodies immanence through an active vulnerability. With analog electronics, crystal oscillations, electromagnetic fields, and electro-chemical improvisation she creates direct links between lived experience and the processes of nature, drawing us into contact with the micro-macro cosmos. Sexton has presented her performance and installation work in festivals and galleries across North America and Europe, released several albums, and is featured on multiple compilations. She is a member of the Perte-de-Signal artist collective, nocinema.org, FÜNF, Ænth, and often collaborates in improvisation contexts.

DOUG VAN NORT

http://dvntsea.com
Doug Van Nort’s work explores deep listening, the noise of the world, time consciousness, viscerally immersive experiences and the radical sculpting of sonic materials in dialogue with his acoustic environment. These explorations manifest as composition, installation, workshops, happenings and as improvised electroacoustic performances, in recent years at venues/festivals across North America and Europe; he often performs solo as well as with a wide array of artists spanning musical styles and artistic media. Regular collaborators include Pauline Oliveros, If, Bwana and the Composers Inside Electronics. His music appears on several labels (e.g. Pogus, Deep Listening, Zeromoon) and his writings on sound/performance/electroacoustics have been published by a number of outlets (e.g. MIT and Cambridge U. Press).

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T.I : VOL.1 : A/V QUARTET ++1

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T.I : VOL.1 : A/V QUARTET ++1

Immersive sound and video, featuring solo/duo/quartet/quintet configurations drawn from: If, Bwana (electronics, objects) / Doug Van Nort (voice, electronics) / Katherine Liberovskaya (live video) / Éric Létourneau (synths, gamelan, wind instruments) / Akunniq (the dog)

WHEN :FEBRUARY 20TH, 2014
WHERE: 1515 ST. CATHERINE WEST EV 7.725
TIME: 7:30 PM, PWYC

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ÉRIC LÉTOURNEAU

André Éric Létourneau est actif dans le milieu radiophonique, les mondes des arts électroniques, audios et de l’art-action depuis la fin des années 1980. Il s’intéresse particulièrement à l’usage des médias par les groupes marginalisés, à la sphère publique comme contexte d’intervention, aux pratiques artistiques furtives et à une approche sociologique et sociopolitique de l’art et des médias. Réalisateur, animateur et concepteur d’émissions, il a régulièrement travaillé pour Radio-Canada et pour différentes radios publiques, communautaires et Web. Artiste en création radiophonique et en médias électroniques, ses oeuvres furent diffusées par Radio-France, KunstRadio (Radio nationale autrichienne), Radio Heklsinki, Radio Métropole (Haïti) et à la Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff Centre). Il a réalisé de nombreux projets à l’étranger et dans le cadre de résidences d’artistes, particulièrement en Indonésie où il a intensivement étudié le théâtre d’ombre balinais et la médiatisation de la tradition orale, ainsi qu’à l’ArtEZ Hogeschool Voor de Kunsten où il a poursuivi, sur une période intensive de 8 mois, une série d’interventions radios et vidéographiques à travers les Pays-Bas. Ses projets artistiques furent présentés dans une cinquantaine de festivals et d’événements internationaux, plus récemment à la Biennale d’Afrique de l’est (EASTAFAB-BURUNDI), Grace Exhibition Space (New York), Steirischer Herbs (Autriche), la Biennale de Paris, au Centre canadien d’architecture et par la Electronic Music Foundation. Ces dernières années, il a donné des workshops à l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris (SciencesPo.), l’Union des artistes, l’École des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Brieuc, au RAIQ et à la Chaire de recherche en dramaturgie sonore au théâtre de l’UQAC. Actif au sein du centre Dare-Dare et du Regroupement des arts Interdisciplinaires du Québec, il est membre d’Hexagram UQAM et de l’unité de recherche CNRS Art & Flux.

DOUG VAN NORT

Doug Van Nort is an experimental musician and sound-focused artist who explores deep listening, viscerally immersive experiences and the radical sculpting of sonic materials in dialogue with his acoustic environment. He has been highly active in the performance of improvised electroacoustic music in recent years at venues such as the Stone, Roulette, Issue Project Room, the New Museum, Experimental Intermedia, the Red Room, Studio Soto, Casa del Popolo, the Guelph Jazz festival, Xfest, EMPAC, and numerous other venues/festivals in the north american region and in the world at large; he often performs solo as well as with a wide array of artists across musical styles and artistic media. He collaborates regularly with Pauline Oliveros, Al Margolis and the Composers Inside Electronics, and in recent years he has performed and recorded with dozens of artists including Francisco López, Stuart Dempster, Chris Chafe, Kathy Kennedy, Ben Miller, Alessandra Eramo, David Arner, Anne Bourne, Eric Leonardson, Judy Dunaway, Katherine Liberovskaya, Carver Audain, André Éric Létourneau, Jefferson Pitcher, Jonathan Chen, and in Sarah Weaver-led ensembles alongside the likes of Gerry Hemingway, Min Xiao-Fen, Franz Hackl, Mark Helias and Dave Taylor. His music appears on several labels including Deep Listening, Pogus and Zeromoon and his writings on sound/performance/technology have been published in a variety of sources such as the Leonardo Music Journal and Organised Sound.

KATHERINE LIBEROVSKAYA

www.liberovskaya.net.

Katherine Liberovskaya is a video and media artist based in Montreal, Canada, and New York City. Involved in experimental video since the 80s, she has produced many single-channel videos, video installation works and video performances which have been presented at a wide variety of artistic venues and events around the world. Since 2001 her work predominantly focuses on collaborations with composers and sound artists notably in live video+sound performance where her live visuals seek to create improvisatory “music” for the eyes. Frequent collaborators include Phill Niblock, Al Margolis/If,Bwana, Zanana, Kristin Norderval, Hitoshi Kojo, David Watson, David First and o.blaat (Keiko Uenishi). Since 2003 she has explored improvised video with numerous artists including: Margarida Garcia, Anthony Coleman, Barry Weisblat, Mazen Kerbaj, murmer, André Gonçalves, Monique Buzzarté, Giuseppe Ielasi, Renato Rinaldi, Alessandro Bossetti, Andre Eric Letourneau, Jason Khan, Jim Bell, among many others. Recent projects have involved: Shelley Hirsch, Chantal Dumas, Leslie Ross, Richard Garet, Dorit Chrysler, Emilie Mouchous, Erin Sexton, Corinne René and Philippe Lauzier. Concurrently she curates and organizes the Screen Compositions evenings at Experimental Intermedia, NYC, since 2005 and the OptoSonic Tea series at Diapason, NYC, and in various locations in Europe and elsewhere with OptoSonic Tea On the Road.

IF, BWANA

Al Margolis has performed and recorded under the name If, Bwana since 1984, making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented composition. He is known as an activist of the 1980s American cassette underground through his cassette label Sound of Pig Music, and is the co-founder of experimental music label Pogus Productions <http://www.pogus.com>. Margolis is label manager for Deep Listening and XI Records; plays bass guitar in the legendary punk/post-punk band Styrenes; and continues his work as If, Bwana. He has recorded and/or performed with Pauline Oliveros, Ione, Joan Osborne, Monique Buzzarté, Adam Bohman, Ellen Christi, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jane Scarpantoni, Ulrich Krieger, David First, and Dave Prescott, among others. Recent projects include: a duo with Tom Hamilton (electronics and objects), a laptop duo with Doug Van Nort, and a violin/bass duo with James Ilgenfritz, and an ongoing collaboration with video artist Katherine Liberovskaya.

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