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Beyond the Machine 3.0—Transatlantic Cultural Convergence By EDWARD BILOUS
As a teacher of music theory, I've had many conversations with students about the diverse influences on music during the past 100 years. It's a topic that comes up frequently with Juilliard's centennial celebration approaching, and it usually reveals as much about our own attitudes toward music as it does about music itself. The most common opinions mirror what the popular history books tell us—that the advent of "atonality," Debussy's "liberation" of harmony, and Stravinsky's "liberation" of rhythm mark the main turning points in Western music.
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| The Juilliard Electric Ensemble will perform at Beyond the Machine 3.0, on April 19, 20, and 22. (Photo by Milica Paranosic) |
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While I understand these classic arguments, my personal experience tells me something different. I believe there were two pre-eminent influences on the world of music during the past century. The first is the merging of European and non-European aesthetics into what can be described as an American aesthetic. The second is the incorporation of electricity into music making.Whether it be Copland or Bernstein, Gershwin or Ellington, Reich or Roumain, a good deal of what we recognize as American music—and therefore in 20th-century music—is the result of the merging of different frames of cultural consciousness. As time progresses the change is even more dramatic. For many young musicians "grooves" have replaced "themes" and "motives," structures evolving from patterns and loops are just as common as those based on harmonic content, and improvisation is becoming part of the standard performance practice. The classical-music aesthetic has expanded to incorporate sensibilities and processes that have roots in lands far from the homes of the great European masters, and young musicians feel it at their core.Young artists are also incorporating technology into their music making in ways previously unimagined. There has been no single technological advancement during the past 1,000 years that has changed our conception of music more than electricity. Electricity has extended the process of sound production beyond the domain of the human body and placed it into the digital ethers. Whether it is through recording, mixing, broadcasting, amplifying, processing, digitizing, cutting and pasting, EQing (equalization), or simply turning up the volume, electricity has changed the way we make and listen to music more than anything since the development of notation in the Middle Ages. As Buckminster Fuller predicted, it is the youth who best understand the significance of the technological revolution, and it is they who are defining the sound of new music.
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| Morton Subotnick |
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As I review the program for Beyond the Machine 3.0, Juilliard's festival of electronic and interactive music that takes place this month, I realize more than ever the uniqueness of our endeavor. The Juilliard Electric Ensemble was created in 2002 to provide students with the opportunity to use technology in the creation and performance of new works. The mission of the ensemble is different from traditional performing groups in that it is designed to cultivate interdisciplinary collaboration, experimentation, and improvisation. The Electric Ensemble is unique among conservatory performing groups in that its members often include musicians, dancers, and actors.Since its inception, the Juilliard Electric Ensemble has performed works that feature electric instruments and/or computers as well as arrangements and productions of traditional works that feature new technology. This year, the program will feature electronic and processed acoustic instruments, live interaction with computers, video projection, live interaction with artists in Europe via Internet links, and a music/video improvisation.This year, the Juilliard Electric Ensemble will premiere several new works and a few electronic classics that exemplify the changing world of new music. First on the program is Chelsea/Chelsea by Pete Wyer, written for amplified string quartet, two saxophones, and live electronics with video imagery. The ensemble will premiere the work at the Chelsea Art Museum, at which time the performance will be blended with electronic elements and video images performed live by Wyer from his studio in Chelsea, London—a transcontinental performance, if you will.
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| Daniel Roumain (Photo by Leslie Lyons) |
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The program features two other works that include video projections as well. Come Cry With Me, by composer and music technology faculty member Milica Paranosic, includes images designed by Carmen Kordas. The performance features music tech faculty member and violinist Mari Kimura performing with the composer at her laptop, and the much acclaimed GuitarBot, a robotic guitar created by LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots). Paranosic's signature sound includes driving rhythmic grooves with virtuoso electronic wizardry, and is combined with powerful video images synchronized to the music.Improvisation is a collaborative effort between the Juilliard Electric Ensemble and See Hear Now, a multimedia duo (composer-performer David Gamper and his wife, photographer-video artist Gisela Gamper) that features live video projections and sound processing. The score will be completely improvised by the Electric Ensemble. I first began coaching students through improvisations in my L&M IV classes, as part of an exploration of new performance practices. Through that process we discovered that many students have an enormous fear of improvising. Even the most confident virtuoso would turn pale and freeze up at the thought of what musician and educator Steven Nachmanovitch calls "free play." In our collaborative work with See Hear Now, the Electric Ensemble explores a gradually unfolding path through the world of improvisation.Composer, violinist, producer, and electronic artist Daniel Roumain has made a remarkable impact on the world of music in recent years. His works are an exemplary blend of African-American and classical aesthetics into a highly personal musical language. Roumain has arranged two earlier solo violin works for the Electric Ensemble. Both "Filtering" (a movement from his Voodoo Violin Concerto) and Hip-Hop Study and Etude in C-Sharp Minor (one of 24 etudes in a soon-to-be-published set) will feature solo violinist JoAnna Farrer, with amplified string quartet, two saxophones, and percussion. Says the composer in his program notes for our concert: "Together they constitute my take on Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Glass' Music in 12 Parts, and other works in which composers systematically examine their own musical language."
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Beyond the Machine 3.0
Chelsea Art Museum
556 West 22nd Street
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19-20, 8 p.m.
Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Columbus Circle (60th Street and Broadway)
Friday, April 22, 8 p.m.
Free, no tickets required.
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The Music Technology Center is proud to present two works by two illustrious composers, Morton Subotnick and Joan La Barbara. Subotnick's A Fluttering of Wings is one of the most important works written for string quartet and electronics. It was written for the Juilliard String Quartet and premiered by them in 1982. Composer and legendary vocalist Joan La Barbara will be represented with l'albero dalle foglie azzurre (tree of blue leaves), a haunting work for solo oboe and electronics featuring Josiane Henry performing the solo part.Finally, two of our programs will feature works composed and performed by students working in the Music Technology Center, including Nadia Sirota, Edvinas Minkstimas, J. Brendan Adamson, and Nicholas Ong. All performances begin at 8 p.m. and are free. Come early, as we are expecting a full house!Edward Bilous is the founding director of the Music Technology Center and chair of the Literature and Materials of Music Department.
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