SPLICE Institute 2023 Concert 4 Program
featuring
SPLICE Faculty and Guests
Thursday June 29, 2023
7:30pm EDT
Dalton Recital Hall, Western Michigan University
Livestream simulcast on SPLICE YouTube (unique link)
download program pdf (does not include notes/bios)
Dana Jessen and Ted Moore : (un) Wired: Improvisation with DJII (2023)
Dana Jessen, bassoon and electronics
Joo Won Park : Elegy No. 2 (2018)
Joo Won Park, melodica and computer
Becky Brown : Enter N/A for "Not Applicable" (2023)
Becky Brown, voice and live electronics
Flannery Cunningham : We are the same as we have always been
Dana Jessen, bassoon
Per Bloland and Sam Wells: Now Time is Made Sound (2023-world premier)
Sam Wells, trumpet
Per Bloland, lap steel feedback banjo and electronics
Lisa Coons : she/storm (2021)
Dana Jessen, bassoon and voice
Eliaine Lillios, voice and electronics
Chris Biggs, electronics
Adam Vidiksis, percussion
Notes
Dana Jessen and Ted Moore: (un) Wired: Improvisation with DJIIDana Jessen's (un) Wired is an ongoing solo electroacoustic and improvisatory work that incorporates sonic environments and live processing through Ted Moore's DJII interface. DJII is a software designed to be used by an improvising performer as live electronics accompaniment and interaction. Their collaborative process began in 2021 with open discussions about what a performance with DJII would sound like to an audience and feel like to a performer, and how one might develop an ongoing performance practice with the software. This performance will showcase the interface in conversation with Jessen's unique improvisatory language.
back to program
Joo Won Park: Elegy No. 2
Elegy No. 2 was commissioned and premiered by Sarah Plum in 2018. Since then, I have presented it with melodica in my solo concerts. It works well as a contrasting piece to my no-input mixer repertoire or improvisational works.
back to program
Becky Brown: Enter N/A for "Not Applicable"
This is a brief survey, and will only take about ten minutes of your twenty minutes of your life. How are you, and what's on your motivation for being here being here today assaulting him? Where do you see see three hours yourselfelf in five miles? Do you have do you have any questions have any do two years for me?
back to program
Flannery Cunningham: We are the same as we have always been
back to program
Per Bloland: Now Time is Made Sound
Says Per:
When Sam Wells and I first started talking about me writing a piece for him I assumed it would be a standard score for solo trumpet and electronics. As I got more into my own performance practice (on the lap steel feedback banjo), the plans quickly shifted. The final result, premiering tonight, is neither for solo trumpet nor following a score. Instead we get to jam! Which has just been incredibly fun. There is a plan, sketched in outline form. The process of creating that plan was very much a collaborative effort though.
The lap steel feedback banjo is still very new for me. It consists of a standard 5-string banjo sitting on a table. I use two sound exciters, one resting on the resonator head and one for use on the strings over the fretboard. That second one has a metal slide strapped to it - so the exciter vibrates the slide, and the slide vibrates the strings. I can send a signal from the banjo pickup to either of these to create a feedback loop, or inject sound from a Max patch on my computer. It’s been great learning how to manipulate this system and making a ton of noise! It’s been even better combining that with Sam’s trumpet!
back to program
Lisa Coons: she/storm
back to program
Bios
Christopher Biggs is a composer, electronic music performer, and multimedia artist residing in Kalamazoo, MI, where he is Associate Professor of Music Composition and Technology at Western Michigan University. Biggs’ recent projects focus on developing and performing a live electronic music system for both in-person and networked performances. Biggs is the Director of SPLICE Institute.back to program
Per Bloland is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works have been praised by the New York Times as “lush, caustic,” and “irresistible.” His compositions range from intimate solo pieces to works for large orchestra, and incorporate video, dance, and custom-built electronics. He has received awards and recognition from organizations including IRCAM, ICMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, the Ohio Arts Council, Digital Art Awards of Tokyo, ISCM, the Martirano Competition, and SCI/ASCAP. His first opera, Pedr Solis, commissioned and premiered by Guerilla Opera in 2015, received rave reviews from the Boston Globe and the Boston Classical Review. He has received commissions from loadbang, Keith Kirchoff, Wild Rumpus, the Ecce Ensemble, Ensemble Pi, the Callithumpian Consort, Stanford’s CCRMA, SEAMUS/ASCAP, the Kenners, Michael Straus and Patti Cudd. His music can be heard on the TauKay (Italy), Capstone, Spektral, and SEAMUS labels, and through the MIT Press. A portrait CD of his work, performed by Ecce Ensemble, is available on Tzadik.
Bloland is the co-creator of the Electromagnetically-Prepared Piano, about which he has given numerous lecture/demonstrations and published a paper. In 2013 he completed a five-month Musical Research Residency at IRCAM in Paris. He is currently an Associate Professor of Composition and Technology, and coordinator of the Composition area at Miami University, Ohio. He is also a founding composition faculty member at the SPLICE Institute, and recently established the Composition program at the Montecito International Music Festival. He received his D.M.A. in composition from Stanford University and his M.M. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Scores may be purchased at www.babelscores.com/perbloland.
For more information visit: www.perbloland.com.
back to program
Becky Brown is a composer, harpist, artist, and web designer, interested in producing intensely personal and bizarrely political works across the multimedia spectrum. She focuses on narrative, emotional exposure, and catharsis, with a vested interest in using technology and the voice to deeply connect with an audience, wherever they are. She is currently pursuing graduate studies in Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia.
back to program
Lisa Coons
I make creative sound projects with others. My preferred labels oscillate from sound artist to composer, from mentor to teacher, from dreamer to maker. I am passionate about my creative work and that work is never mine alone; it is collaborative, exploratory, constantly evolving and rooted in dialogue – in exchange. My recent endeavors cross disciplines, media, and vocabularies – but all derive some amount of meaning from the artist(s) who realize the work and the role of the performing body. Narrative environment scores [triggered multimedia and live performer(s)] function as evolving aural/visual spaces in which performers speak, sing, play, and move. Fully staged and choreographed productions (like those created with Mark Dechiazza and Spektral Quartet, as well as the International Contemporary Ensemble) integrate physical and sounding gestures into thematic and developing materials. My sounding sculptures require percussionists to move and listen and be playful in order to perform the compositions. The installations I create are meant to be enveloping, with participants moving throughout to find their own tempo, story, resonance, space. And my stage works include physical and narrative instructions as integral elements to the scores.
My creative life is multidimensional, as I work with amazing artists who challenge, inspire, and enrich both my process and my art. These artist have included the International Contemporary Ensemble, Spectral Quartet, Mark DeChiazza, The American Composers Orchestra, Ensemble Dal Niente, Collect/Project, Chris Graham, Shanna Pranaitis, Iktus Percussion Quartet, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, Illinois Modern Ensemble, Eric KM Clark, the New England Guitar Quartet, Hannah Addario-Berry, the NODES Project, Coalescence Percussion Duo, Brian McOmber, Violin Futura, Navitas, the Machine Project for the Hammer Museum of Los Angeles and the California E.A.R. Unit. I have been fortunate to learn and grow with fellowships and residencies from Hartt School, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Other Minds Festival. But there is more beyond these wonderful artists and environments that inform my creative life…
Teaching also informs my creative research, as I listen to and learn from the student artists I mentor. These students keep me researching and learning, they keep me open, they challenge me to occupy different perspectives, and they inspire me through the sharing of their voices. As an Associate Professor of Composition at Western Michigan University, I am fortunate to work with students at various levels of their artistic development, with widely varying voices and goals. Connectedly, I also work at times with wonderful outreach programs like SEMINAR summer camp for high schoolers, Portage Public Schools’ Orchestra Program, and, most recently, the amazing Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra Mosaic Scholars program. Each of these endeavors keeps me questioning, learning, growing, and expanding my vocabularies (those tools for teaching and those for creative expression). Each of these endeavors reminds me to stay grateful and to stay engaged.
back to program
Flannery Cunningham is a composer and musicologist fascinated by vocal expression, text, and auditory perception. She aims to write music that surprises and delights. Called “silken” by the Washington Post, her work has been performed at festivals such as Aspen, June in Buffalo, Toronto Creative Music Lab, SPLICE Institute and Festival, and Copland House’s CULTIVATE and by performers such as International Contemporary Ensemble, TAK, New York New Music Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, and Music from Copland House. Flannery is attracted the very old and very new; she has presented at the International Medieval Congress and performed at the International Computer Music Conference. In addition to acoustic ensembles she writes for players and singers with interactive electronics, always striving to foreground the musicality of human performers. Flannery holds degrees from Princeton University, University College Cork, and Stony Brook University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
back to program
Hailed as a “bassoon virtuoso” (Chicago Reader), Dana Jessen tirelessly seeks to expand the boundaries of her instrument through original compositions, improvisations, and collaborative work with innovative artists. Over the past decade, she has presented dozens of world premiere performances throughout North America and Europe while maintaining equal footing in the creative music community as an improviser. Her solo performances are almost entirely grounded in electroacoustic composition that highlight her distinct musical language. As a chamber musician, Dana is the co-founder of the contemporary reed quintet Splinter Reeds, and has performed with Alarm Will Sound, Amsterdam’s DOEK Collective, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and the Tri-Centric Ensemble, among many others. A dedicated educator, Dana teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has presented masterclasses and workshops to a range of students from across the globe.
More at: www.danajessen.com
back to program
Acclaimed as one of the “contemporary masters of the medium” by MIT Press’s Computer Music Journal, Elainie Lillios creates works that reflect her fascination with listening, sound, space, time, immersion, and anecdote. Her compositions include stereo, multi-channel, and Ambisonic fixed media works, instrument(s) with live electronics, collaborative experimental audio/visual animations, and installations. She also performs live electronics with ESC Trio collaborators Chris Biggs and Scott Deal.
Elainie’s work has been recognized internationally and nationally through awards, grants, and commissions, including a 2020 Johnston Foundation commission, 2018 Fromm Foundation Commission, 2016 Barlow Endowment Commission, a 2013 Fulbright Scholar Award and many others. Her music is regularly performed at conferences, festivals, and concerts throughout the United States and abroad by amazing virtuoso performers who give their time and talent bringing her music to life in vibrant, engaging ways. Elainie’s work can be accessed on compact disc through many publishers including Emprientes DIGITALes (electrocd.com), as well as on SoundCloud, and YouTube.
Elainie serves as Director of Composition Activities for SPLICE (www.splicemusic.org) and as Professor of Creative Arts Excellence at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. elillios.com
back to program
Ted Moore (he / him) is a composer, improviser, and intermedia artist whose work fuses sonic, visual, physical, and acoustic elements, often incorporating technology to create immersive, multidimensional experiences.
After completing a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Chicago, Ted served as a postdoctoral Research Fellow in Creative Coding at the University of Huddersfield as part of the ERC-funded FluCoMa project, where he investigated the creative potential of machine learning algorithms and taught workshops on how artists can use machine learning in their creative music practice. Ted has continued offering workshops around the world on machine learning and creativity including at the University of Pennsylvania, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, and Music Hackspace in London.
Ted’s music has been presented by leading cultural institutions such as MassMoCA, South by Southwest, The Walker Art Center, and National Sawdust and presented by ensembles such as Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, the [Switch~ Ensemble], and the JACK Quartet. Ted has held artist residences with the Phonos Foundation in Barcelona, the Arts, Sciences, & Culture Initiative at the University of Chicago, and the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam. His sound art installations combine DIY electronics, embedded technologies, and spatial sound have been featured around the world including at the American Academy in Rome and New York University.
Ranging from concert stages to dirty basements, Ted is a frequent improviser on electronics and has appeared with dozens of instrumental collaborators across Europe and North America including on releases for Carrier Records, Mother Brain Records, Noise Pelican Records, and Avid Sound Records. Described as “frankly unsafe” by icareifyoulisten.com, performances on his custom, large-scale software instrument for live sound processing and synthesis, enables an improvisational voice rooted in free jazz, noise music, and musique concrète.
Ted currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut, but might also be found hiking in nearby West Rock State Park or on the side of a mountain in Summit County, Colorado.
back to program
Dr. Joo Won Park is an Associate Professor of Music Technology at the Wayne State University. He studied at Berklee College of Music (B.M.) and University of Florida (M.M. and Ph.D.) and has previously taught in Oberlin Conservatory, Temple University, Rutgers University Camden, and Community College of Philadelphia. Dr. Park's music and writings are available on MIT Press, Parma Recordings, ICMC, Spectrum Press, Visceral Media, SEAMUS, and No Remixes labels. He is the recipient of Knight Arts Challenge Detroit (2019) and Kresge Arts Fellowship (2020). He also directs Electronic Music Ensemble of Wayne State (EMEWS).
back to program
Adam Vidiksis is a composer, conductor, percussionist, improviser, and technologist based in Philadelphia whose music often explores social structures, science, and the intersection of humankind with the machines we build. Vidiksis’s music has won numerous awards and grants, including recognition from the Society of Composers, Incorporated, the American Composers Forum, New Music USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and ASCAP. His works are available through HoneyRock Publishing, EMPiRE, New Focus, PARMA, and SEAMUS Records. Vidiksis recently served as composer in residence for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and was selected by the NEA and Japan-US Friendship Commission to serve as Director of Arts Technology for a performance of a new work during the 2020 Olympics in Japan. Vidiksis is Assistant Professor of music technology at Temple University, President and founding member of SPLICE Music, which includes the annual Institute, Academy, and Festival, a Resident Artist at the Renegade Theater company, and a founding member of the Impermanent Society of Philadelphia, a group dedicated to promoting improvisation in the performing arts. He performs in SPLICE Ensemble and the Transonic Orchestra, conducts Ensemble N_JP, and directs the Temple Composers Orchestra and the Boyer College Electroacoustic Ensemble Project (BEEP). He produces real-time generative improvised electronic music (a.k.a 4EA and Circadia & Currency).
back to program
Sam Wells is a musician and video artist based in Philadelphia.
Sam has performed throughout North America and Europe, as well as in China. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award, and his work, stringstrung, is the winner of the 2016 Miami International Guitar Festival Composition Competition. He has performed electroacoustic works for trumpet and presented his own music at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, N_SEME, and SEAMUS festivals. Sam and his music have also been featured by the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) and Fulcrum Point Discoveries. He has also been a guest artist/composer at universities throughout North America.
Sam is a member of SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has performed with Contemporaneous, Metropolis Ensemble, TILT Brass, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. Sam has recorded on the SEAMUS and Ravello Recordings labels.
Sam holds degrees in both performance and composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, graduate degrees in Trumpet Performance and Computer Music Composition at Indiana University, and a doctoral degree at the California Institute of the Arts. He is an Assistant Professor of Music Technology at Temple University.
back to program