PERFORMANCES

Beatscape

Aaron Albin, Brian Blosser, Oliver Jan, Sertan Senturk, Akito Van Troyer

Beatscape is a mixed virtual-physical environment for musical ensembles where sound objects interact with temporal waves to create rhythmic grooves. Musical outcomes in the virtual world are determined by the ensemble’s actions in the physical world. Part of the ensemble manipulates physical objects representing sounds while the other part triggers the sound objects by generating waves with hand gestures.  In this piece, both parts of the ensemble explore the degree to which their contributions are both static and dynamic, and how combining the two elements finally results in the ensemble arriving at its full expressive potential.

Loic

Akito Van Troyer, Jason Freeman 

with performers: Aaron Albin, Akito van Troyer, Andrew Colella, Avinash Sastry, Oliver Jan, and Sertan Senturk

The Laptop orchestra live coding (Lolc) system uses real-time music scripting software to connect  a group of musicians who can collaborate and improvise musically on the fly. Lolc accomplishes musical collaboration by sharing musical resources — chat messages and musical patterns — among musician and the audience. Chat messaging empowers musicians to communicate in direct the course of performance; and musical pattern sharing enables musicians to advance the musical cohesiveness. The interaction among musicians is projected to the audience, representing the process that forms the music.

Paper Moon

Ryan Nikolaidis, Guy Hoffman, Trishul Mallikarjuna, Gil Weinberg

An arrangement of the jazz standard “It’s Only a Paper Moon” for an ensemble of humans and a robot. Shimon, our robotic marimba player, listens and learns while humans perform. He accompanies while we improvise and improvises while we accompany. Shimon uses a style he learns solely from our real-time performance, and will hopefully inspire us with new musical ideas.

Sonic Symbiotic

Meghashyam Adoni, Avinash Sastry, Andrew Willingham, Ryan Nikolaidis

We present a novel paradigm for the traditional rock band. Using four instruments, electronically interconnected, we look at new ways to create, control and shape sound, using interactions between band members as well as their instruments.

Beyond Thunderdome

Gilberto Gaxiola, Sam DeFilipp, Trishul Mallikarjuna, Andrew Colella

A post-minimalist work involving real-time composition and complex meter signatures, Beyond Thunderdome rests in ambiguity between composition and improvisation.  Throughout the piece, the conductor/composer shapes and organizes musical material in real-time.  The conductor communicates with the players (and the audiences) by projecting information and instructions regarding the music about to be played.  This rock-influenced vanguard uses ambisonic location as an important compositional parameter.

Guest appearance by Street Lotto, playing ZOOZbeat