SPLICE Festival V 2023 Concert 4 Program
Saturday November 4, 2023
11:00am EDT
David Friend Recital Hall, Berklee College of Music
921 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02115
Will Yager : Krats/Strak: Spectral DJ & Double Bass
Will Yager, bass
Jean-François Charles, light show DJ
Marcea McGuire : Body
Marcea McGuire, voice
Nina Shekhar : Honk if You Love Me
Amy Advocat, clarinet
Leah Reid : Jouer
Kyle Hutchins, soprano saxophone
Elliott Lupp : a warp along the length of the face
Will Yager, bass
Wenxin Li : Wu
Wenxin Li, live electronics
Badie Khaleghian : Before I Became Aware Of This Moving Of Life
Wilson Poffenberger, saxophone
Note: Caroline Miller was formerly scheduled to have a piece on this concert, but was unfortunately unable to attend.
Notes
Will Yager : Krats/Strak: Spectral DJ & Double BassSpectral DJ is Jean-François Charles's personal electronic music improvisation tool; it is a unique software musical instrument optimized for live performance with a DJ controller. It features a versatile scratch delay and a powerful live graphic sound processing environment. Collaborative creation lies at the core of the Spectral DJ Duo. By design, the Spectral DJ instrument restores the art of listening as the most important of musical skills. When combined with Will Yager’s double bass, the possibilities include not only live synthesis and processing, but also counterpoint between the instruments and combining to form a fused sonic entity.
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Marcea McGuire : Body
Body explores the effects of generational trauma. Black women have been subjected to alarming rates of sexual violence for generations. The cycle of silent suffering has only just begun to change with the #MeToo movement. This piece illustrates the impact of sexual assault on one’s self image and interactions within their community.
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Nina Shekhar : Honk if You Love Me
In any large city, the sound of car horns riddles every street. But whenever I visit a city in India, the level of this traffic-filled soundscape is taken to an extreme, with a constant barrage of wild, animated, and exuberant car horns and songs like “Happy Birthday” which play every time a car is put into reverse. These unique horns almost sound too melodic and friendly to be recognized as traffic noises elsewhere, and hence they are used differently when driving – rather than honking out of anger, they are used to communicate to other drivers and make each car’s presence known, almost as a form of self-expression. In many ways, these drivers are reclaiming technology and using it to communicate – the most human and individual act possible. In essence, this piece Honk If You Love Me is a meta-version of this phenomenon, using electronics to disintegrate these traffic sounds and recontextualize them into something deeply personal and human.
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Leah Reid : Jouer
Jouer is an immersive composition for amplified soprano saxophone and electronics that explores sounds associated with “play”—sports, balls bouncing or being hit, playground and amusement park sounds, sounds of various children’s toys, balloons, video games, swimming pool games, trampolines, casinos, racetrack sounds, and much more. The electronics lead the listener through various soundscapes associated with the theme, while the saxophone part interacts with the evolving timbres and unifies the various sound worlds.
The composition was written as part of Reid’s Guggenheim Fellowship for Kyle Hutchins and the Cube at Virginia Tech.
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Elliott Lupp : a warp along the length of the face
This piece was written for and in collaboration with double bassist and friend Will Yager over a two year period. The work uses a series of cue like notational ‘guides’ (provided in real time via laptop) to instruct the performer through a series of physical, semi-improvisatory performative instructions. These moments rely heavily on the performer’s ability to listen, watch, and move between each moment with well-timed procession and musicality, while also allowing the performer a good amount of agency to explore sonic/performative possibilities from cell to cell. The electronics, both live and fixed, are all synthesized from sounds of wood (a majority of which came from Will’s own double bass). The title comes from the idea that if a plank of wood is said to be 'bowed’, it is said to have a warp along the length of its face.
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Wenxin Li : Wu
Wu is a live electronics piece working with motion detection in Max/MSP. It tracks the performer’s body movements with a camera and translates those movements to control commands for playing and mixing pre-recorded sounds. Wu (舞) in Chinese means dance. Normally dance comes after music. However, in this piece, dance creates the music.
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Badie Khaleghian : Before I Became Aware Of This Moving Of Life
Before I Became Aware Of This Moving Of Life is a work that celebrates the spontaneity and power of improvisation, brought to life by the incredible talent of saxophonist Wilson Poffenberger. This piece was conceived during a close collaboration between Wilson and myself, and it had its world premiere at the Splice Institute 2022 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The initial creative spark for the piece came when Wilson mentioned his passion for improvisation during brainstorming sessions with me. This mutual love for organic sonic processes provided the perfect foundation for a work that explores the limits of expression and freedom within a structured environment.
The piece itself is divided into several sections, each offering a unique space for Wilson to showcase his virtuosity and emotional depth. Each section presents a different sonic landscape, built upon a foundation of my guidelines and Wilson's creative input. The result is an ever-evolving dialogue between the saxophonist and the music as they together traverse the ephemeral landscapes that unfold before them.
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Bios
Will Yager is a double bassist committed to experimental music, improvisation, and collaborating with other artists in the creation of new solo and chamber repertoire for the double bass. He is a founding member of both LIGAMENT, a duo with soprano Anika Kildegaard, and the trio Wombat with Justin Comer and Carlos Cotallo Solares. Performance highlights include appearances at the High Zero Festival, Omaha Under the Radar, University of Iowa Center for New Music, Experimental Sound Studios’ Quarantine Concerts, 2021 International Society of Bassists Convention, Nief-Norf Summer Festival, New Music on the Point, Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival. He is based in Baltimore, Maryland.back to program
Jean-François Charles is a composer, clarinetist, and live electronics designer. After obtaining a MSc in Electrical Engineering at the National Institute for Applied Sciences in Lyon, he studied in Strasbourg with the Italian composer Ivan Fedele. As a clarinetist, he worked with Karlheinz Stockhausen for the world première and recording of Rechter Augenbrauentanz. He earned his Ph.D. in music/composition at Harvard, where he studied with Hans Tutschku, Chaya Czernowin, Julian Anderson, Helmut Lachenmann, Gunther Schuller, and others. His article “A Tutorial on Spectral Sound Processing using Max/MSP and Jitter” published in the Computer Music Journal has helped many electronic musicians integrate spectral sound processing into live performances, compositions, or their own software creations. After serving as deputy director at the Brest Conservatory (Bretagne, France), he joined in 2016 the School of Music at the University of Iowa as assistant professor in composition and digital arts.
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Marcea McGuire is a composer who shares her lived experience through music. Her work — which has been described as “stunning,” “graceful,” “powerful,” and “chilling” — was commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, Lillith Vocal Ensemble and Horizon Ensemble.
McGuire aims to express the unique struggles her community faces; and celebrate her culture and history.
She has a B.F.A. from Ball State University in Music Composition with focus in Sonic Arts Technology. She has a M.M. in Composition from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. McGuire has studied with Keith Kothman, Derek Johnson, Michael Pounds, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Young Lee.
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Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works.
Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Albany Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, New York Youth Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her work has been featured by Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Library of Congress, and National Gallery of Art.
Current projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). Shekhar is the recipient of the 2021 Rudolf Nissim Prize and the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award, funded by the Bernstein family.
Aside from composing, Shekhar is a versatile performing artist as a flutist, pianist, and saxophonist. She has been featured by the National Flute Association, and she has performed in the Detroit International Jazz Festival.
Shekhar is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She is the 2021-2023 Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. She is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.
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Sought out for her “dazzling” (Boston Globe) performances with “extreme control and beauty” (The Clarinet Journal), Amy Advocat, clarinetist, is an avid performer of new music having performed with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Alarm Will Sound, Sound Icon, Guerilla Opera, Firebird Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Collage New Music, and Dinosaur Annex. Recent appearances include performances at Beethovenfest Bonn, Vienna Summer Music Festival, Monadnock Music, New Hampshire Music Festival, and the White Mountain Music Festival.
Amy is a founding member of the bass clarinet and marimba duo, Transient Canvas, with whom she has commissioned and premiered hundreds of new works and released three albums to critical acclaim. Transient Canvas regularly tours across the United States and Europe, including featured performances at New Music Gathering (San Francisco/Boston), SoundNOW Festival (Atlanta), Alba Music Festival (Italy), Music on the Edge (Pittsburgh), Outpost Concert Series (Los Angeles), and more. Their debut album, Sift, was released in August 2017 on New Focus Recordings to rave reviews. KLANG New Music called it "one of the more refreshing things I've heard in recent years." Their second album, Wired, was named a top local album of 2018 by The Boston Globe with I Care If You Listen raving “Transient Canvas is a tour de force and this record is a must-add to any new music lover’s library.”
Amy Advocat is a proud endorsing artist with Conn-Selmer and Henri Selmer Paris Clarinets.
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Leah Reid (www.leahreid.com) is a composer, sound artist, researcher, and educator, whose works range from opera, chamber, and vocal music, to acousmatic, electroacoustic works, and interactive sound installations.
Winner of a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship, Reid has also won the American Prize in Composition, the KLANG! International Electroacoustic Composition Competition, Musicworks’ Electronic Music Contest, Sound of the Year’s Composed with Sound Award, IAWM’s Pauline Oliveros Award, and prizes in the Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition and International Destellos Competition.
Her compositions have been presented at festivals, conferences, and major venues throughout the world, including Aveiro_Síntese, BEAST FEaST, Espacios Sonoros, EviMus, ICMC, IRCAM’s ManiFeste, MA/IN Festival, NYCEMF, OUA-EMF, Série de Música de Câmara, the Tilde New Music Festival, and WOCMAT, among many others.
Reid received her D.M.A. and M.A. from Stanford University and her B.Mus from McGill University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.
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Hailed as “epic” (Jazz Times), "formidable" (The Saxophone Symposium), and "gripping" (Star Tribune), Kyle Hutchins (http://www.jefferykylehutchins.com) is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist. He has performed across five continents, recorded over two dozen albums, premiered hundreds of new works, has authored a book and edited multiple anthologies of music for the saxophone. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota. Kyle has served on the faculty of Virginia Tech since 2016 where he is Assistant Professor of Practice. He is a Yamaha, Légère Reed, and E. Rousseau Mouthpiece Performing Artist.
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Elliott Lupp is a composer, improvisor, visual artist, educator, and sound designer whose work often invokes images of the distorted, chaotic, visceral, and absurd. This aesthetic approach as it relates to both acoustic and electroacoustic composition has led to a body of work that, at the root of its construction, focuses on the manipulation of noise, extreme gesture, shifting timbre, and performer/computer improvisation/interaction as core elements.
Elliott has received a number of awards and honors for his work, including a 2019 SEAMUS/ASCAP Commission, the 2019 Franklin G. Fisk Composition Award for Chamber Music, and Departmental and All-University awards in Graduate Research and Creative Scholarship. His music has been performed at a variety of electroacoustic festivals/conferences including NUNC!, SPLICE Institute, N_SEME, CHIMEfest, Electronic Music Midwest, MOXsonic, SEAMUS, and Electroacoustic Barn Dance.
Elliott currently teaches courses in music composition and music technology at Northwestern University.
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Wenxin Li is a native of Chongqing, China, and is currently teaching composition and electronic music at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Li’s music has been featured in a variety of festivals, including Aspen Music Festival, Composers Conference, SCI National Conference, RED NOTE New Music Festival, FSU New Music Festival, National Student Electronic Music Event, Midwest Graduate Music Consortium, and Midwest Composers Symposium. Her music has also been performed by the JACK Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, H2 Quartet and Accroche Note. Li received her bachelor’s degree from Sichuan Conservatory of Music, master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is pursuing her PhD degree in composition at the University of Iowa under David Gompper.
https://soundcloud.com/wenxin-li
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Badie Khaleghian is a dynamic composer and multimedia artist whose passion for collaborative and innovative storytelling projects ignites imaginations, conversations, and transformative experiences. With a keen interest in exploring the intersection of art, cultures, science, and technology, he creates performances that challenge boundaries and break new ground. His works have been featured at renowned festivals worldwide, including the Atemporanea Festival in Buenos Aires, the Korea Electro-Acoustic Music Society’s Annual Conference in Seoul, and the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS). Khaleghian’s compositions have been performed by a range of ensembles, from the Crossing Borders and Hub New Music to the Talea Ensemble, Transient Canvas, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Currently pursuing a doctorate in composition at Rice University, Khaleghian is deeply committed to research, teaching, and composing. He draws inspiration from his diverse cultural background and a strong desire to connect people through the power of art. Whether collaborating with other artists or working solo, Khaleghian’s work is characterized by its bold experimentation, technical sophistication, and emotional depth. With his finger on the pulse of the latest artistic trends and technologies, Khaleghian is poised to make an indelible mark on the world of contemporary music and multimedia art.
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Described as an “Admirably skilled player” (The News-Gazette), Boston based saxophonist WILSON POFFENBERGER is quickly establishing himself as a soloist, educator, chamber musician and improviser. Currently, Mr. Poffenberger is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in saxophone performance and literature at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he recently received ABD status.
As a soloist, Mr. Poffenberger has performed with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Illinois Modern Ensemble, Illinois Wind Symphony, Dana Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown State University Percussion Ensemble, and Hagerstown Municipal Band. He has presented recitals at the National Student Electronic Music Event, XVIII World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, EMS60 Conference, Splice New Music Festival, International Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, North American Saxophone Alliance Biannual Conference, Duquesne Saxophone Day, the Fondation des Etats-Unis and the Fondation Bierman-Lapotre.
Recent accomplishments include first prize at the 2020 UI Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, first prize at the 2020 American Prize Chamber Music Competition, first prize at the 2020 North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition, first prize at the 2019 Mostly Modern Festival Concerto Competition, first prize at the 2019 Krannert Debut Artist Competition, grand prize at the 2017 Enkor International Woodwind and Brass Competition, winner of the 2016-2017 Harriet Hale Woolley award, first prize at the 2014 Dana Young Artist competition, semi-finalist in the 2014 International Saxophone Symposium and Competition, and semi-finalist in the 2018 and 2014 North American Saxophone Alliance Collegiate Solo Competition.
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