Concert 2 Program
Evan Williams : if/else
Kenneth Cox, flute
Alex Christie & Kittie Cooper : Scan Site 1
Alex Christie, electronics
Kittie Cooper, electric guitar
J. Andrew Smith : Disturbed Earth
Brendan Jacklin, piano
Ioannis Andriotis : Vocem
Alyssa Andriotis, alto flute
Ed Martin : Break
Drew Whiting, baritone saxophone
Notes
Evan Williams : if/elseIn various programming languages, conditional statements allow a program to make choices based on given data through simple Boolean logic. The most common of these is probably the if/then/else statement. An example of this logic is “If x is true, then do y. If else, do z. While my own programming skills are limited, during my brief study of languages like C, C++, and Objective C, these conditional statements fascinated me on a philosophical and poetic level. Very complex code relies on these very simple pieces of logic. They also give the illusion that the computer or program has agency to make a “choice.” if/else is inspired by these programming statements. Each movement is inspired by programming logic, and uses the statement to influence the musical material, the live processing, or both. For example, in the opening movement “if/else,” if the flutist plays the pitch E5 or higher, the electronics will react with a randomized effect, if the pitch is lower than E5, nothing will be triggered. In “switch,” the flutist and electronics trade between playing melodic and accompanying material, using high sustained pitches from the flute as a catalyst to switch roles. The movement “while” is concerned with immediate response. The electronics process every sound from the flute in real time. The fourth movement “break” sets up intense layers of dissonant sounds until reaching a breaking point, and then restarting. The final movement, “else/if” serves as a short, quasi-palindromic coda to the work. if/else was written for flutist Lindsey Goodman.
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Alex Christie & Kittie Cooper : Scan Site 1
A “spirit box” is a tool used by ghost hunters to communicate with the deceased and other paranormal entities. The box sweeps through radio frequencies and outputs a garble of static, words, and other raw sound, inviting users to recompose these fragments into meaningful phrases. The idea is that the spirit box allows spirits to speak in the world of the living.
The spirit box enables us to find meaning in noise. It is a site-specific tool, using only the audio broadcast in its present location. Scan Site 1 also communicates through noise: the performers and spirit box input noise into the processing system. The guitar, electronics, and box interfere, modulate, and support each other, speaking together in order to express new meaning.
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J.Andrew Smith : Disturbed Earth
Disturbed Earth was born from my love of the poetry of Margaret Atwood and is directly inspired by her poem of the same name. Atwood’s writing always strikes me as poignant, multifaceted, visceral, and intimate. These qualities drew me to her “Disturbed Earth” as it dwells on the human tendency to reject that which “thwarts” our wishes and desires (represented here as weeds and thistles in a garden.) Near the end, the speaker undergoes a kind of “transmutation,” becoming the very thistles and weeds that they once sought to snuff out and urging the reader to seek the speaker out in "disturbed earth."
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Ed Martin : Break
Break explores the harmonic series of the baritone saxophone’s low A. At times, the harmonic series is attacked and violently smashed into bits, while in other moments, it is meticulously pried open layer by layer. Saxophonist Drew Whiting, who commissioned the piece, recorded all of the sounds heard in the electronics.
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Bios
The music of Evan Williams has been performed across the country and internationally by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Splinter Reeds, Fifth House Ensemble, and at festivals such as SEAMUS, N_SEME, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the New York City Electronic Music Festival. In addition, he has been commissioned by notable performers and ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra, and many more. His honors include recognition from the National Federation of Music Clubs, ASCAP, and Fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Williams holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, Bowling Green State University, and Lawrence University. In the Fall, Williams begins an appointment as Assistant Professor of Music Composition/Technology and Director of Instrumental Activities at Rhodes College. He has also taught at Lawrence University, Bennington College, and the Walden School.back to program
Described as "...fierce...powerful..." by The Seattle Times, and "...incredibly personal..." by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Kenneth J. Cox is taking the music scene by storm. Armed with a large spectrum of musical styles, he has performed in over twenty internationally acclaimed venues throughout the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, China and Japan. Highly devoted to new music, Kenneth has commissioned and premiered over forty new works for solo flute and chamber ensembles over the last six years. Kenneth is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Contemporary Music Performance with a specialization in Flute at Bowling Green State University and serves as the Teaching Assistant to Dr. Conor Nelson. He is also a graduate of the prestigious University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of South Carolina.
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J. Andrew Smith is a composer, educator, and electronic musician from Atlanta, GA. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, he studied composition with Dr. Elainie Lillios, Dr. Mikel Kuehn, and Dr. Christopher Dietz. Many of his works explore the integration of improvisation and greater performer agency within a structured framework, amplified by live and interactive electronics. Among these pieces is A Poem is Not a Memoir, which was developed in collaboration with pianist and percussionist Lisa Kaplan and Matthew Duvall of Eighth Blackbird as well as Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Peter Balakian. His works have been performed at the SPLICE Institute, Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, New Music on the Point, and the Southeastern Composers' Symposium. He has presented in masterclasses with Paula Matthusen, Augusta Reed Thomas, Lewis Spratlan, Paul Coleman, Charles Halka, and Matthew Welch. He is currently an adjunct professor at BGSU, where he teaches Music Technology.
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Canadian pianist Brendan Jacklin, currently based out of Ann Arbor MI, is an active performer, teacher, and new music advocate. A special interest of his involves performing interdisciplinary works that include electronics, video, poetry, and dance. He has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout North America and Europe. As an avid performer of contemporary music, Brendan has premiered dozens of new works, including solo and chamber music. He has worked with many composers, including David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, Libby Larsen, John Orfe, Jorge Cordoba, and Nicole Lizée. Brendan completed his doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music with Prof. Awadagin Pratt and Dr. Michelle Conda, with cognates in both pedagogy and multimedia music. He completed his Masters of Music in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University with Dr. Thomas Rosenkranz and visiting professor Robert Shannon, and completed his Bachelors of Music with Prof. Megumi Masaki.
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Ioannis Andriotis (b. 1983, Greece) focuses on sociological aspects of music emphasizing social memory and its reflections on contemporary human relationship. Andriotis holds a DMA in Music Composition from the University of Oklahoma, USA. He has composed works for acoustic and acousmatic media, live electronics, independent films, theatre, and international biennales and installations. During the Fall 2016 he served as an instructor of music technology/composition courses at Oklahoma State University and Rose State College. He assisted as an interim instructor of music technology at the University of Oklahoma (2013-2016).
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Alyssa Andriotis is an Oklahoma based flutist and teacher. She is an adjunct instructor at Oklahoma City Community College and serves as the Flute Fair Coordinator for the Oklahoma Flute Society. Ms. Andriotis has presented lectures, workshops, and masterclasses around the country. Committed to promoting new music, Ms. Andriotis is a performing member of the Flute New Music Consortium. She was the winner of the 2018 Flute New Music Consortium Flute Artist Competition. Her areas of interest include works for flute and electronics as well as new chamber music. Ms. Andriotis holds a Master of Music from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Music from Ball State University. Her previous teachers include Eva Amsler, Valerie Watts, and Mihoko Watanabe. andriotisflute.com
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Alex Christie makes acoustic music, electronic music, and intermedia art in many forms. His work has been called “vibrant”, “interesting, I guess”, and responsible for “ruin[ing] my day”. He is particularly interested in the design of power structures, systems of interference, and absurdist bureaucracy. He is currently based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Alex’s work explores the ecology of performance in intermedia art and interactive electronic music. Through real-time audio processing, instrument building, light, video, and theater, Alex expands performance environments to offer multiple lenses through which the audience can experience the work. Alex has performed and presented at a variety of conferences and festivals whose acronyms combine to spell nicedinsaucesfeemmmmmogscabsplot. He holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Mills College and is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition and Computer Technologies (CCT) at the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Fellow. Other interests include baseball and geometric shapes.
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Kittie Cooper is a composer, performer, and educator based in Charlottesville, Virginia. She makes art that incorporates feminism and explores the spectrum between silliness and seriousness. Her work has been called "highly original and wonderfully fun". She is interested in text and graphic scores, improvisation, and DIY electronic instruments. During the year, Kittie teaches English and Language Arts at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. She holds a Bachelor in Music from Northwestern University in music education and classical guitar performance, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in special education at James Madison University. In her spare time, she enjoys taking care of the stray cats in her neighborhood.
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Ed Martin, D.M.A., Associate Professor of Music, teaches composition, music theory, and aural skills. His compositions have been performed throughout the world at events such as the ISCM World New Music Days in Sydney, World Saxophone Congresses in Scotland and Bangkok, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, and numerous regional and national music festivals. His music is recorded on the Mark, Centaur, Parma, innova, Emeritus, and SEAMUS labels, and has received first prize awards in international contests from the Percussive Arts Society, the Electro-Acoustic Miniatures International Contest, and the Craig and Janet Swan Composer Prize for orchestral music. He holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Florida. Prior to joining the UW Oshkosh faculty in 2007, he taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois Wesleyan University.
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Saxophonist Drew Whiting has established himself as a champion of new and experimental music, regularly performing works from the 20th and 21st centuries in solo, chamber, and electroacoustic settings. He recently performed at the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium, Ball State University Festival of New Music, Third Practice Festival, and the Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, and presented the first ever Performer-Curated Concert at the 2017 SEAMUS Conference. He has worked closely with composers such as Betsy Jolas, Erik Lund, Ed Martin, and John Mayrose and has premiered over thirty works by established and emerging composers. Drew currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He received Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees from the Michigan State University College of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Drew is a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Vandoren Regional Artist.
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