“How is wonder experienced in your life?” This text has been placed in a small gold frame, tucked under a tree-like structure with leaves of dazzling colour, and left for curious concertgoers to find at Women From Space (WFS), a four-day festival that celebrates and creates space for women’s innovation during the International Women’s DayContinue reading “Nicole Mitchell and Coco Elysses at Women From Space”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Levy Lorenzo Maximizes the Human Algorithm
New York City’s David Geffen Hall opened its doors again to the public in October 2022, and the New York Philharmonic wasted no time in settling back into its reimagined home. After departing from Carnegie Hall in 1962, the orchestra performed in David Geffen Hall’s previous incarnation, which was muddled with acoustic problems; the newContinue reading “Levy Lorenzo Maximizes the Human Algorithm”
Simone Schmidt’s Audible Songs of Defiant Meaning
“Can you believe that you can record a song?” Simone Schmidt says. “I’m not even trying to sound like a stoner. It blows my mind. It’s total magic. It seems like something worth devoting a lot of time to. I never get over it.” The creative process behind Schmidt’s visionary country songs is rooted inContinue reading “Simone Schmidt’s Audible Songs of Defiant Meaning”
Resequencing Resonances
Resonances are ghosts. They accentuate unseen presences of sounding bodies as they amplify frequencies inherent in them. Noted Italian composer Luciano Berio explored the transfer of energy from one body to another in his Sequenza X (1984), which requires a pianist to silently depress keys and pedals while a trumpeter blasts accented notes to activateContinue reading “Resequencing Resonances”
What’s Inside Musicworks 144?
Cozy up with the Winter 2022–23 issue and discover new pathways of sonic connectivity! ON THE COVER: SLOWPITCHSOUND With roots in turntablism that extend into the likes of classical composition, sound design, and theatre, Toronto-based artist and musician Cheldon Paterson—aka SlowPitchSound—is an artist whose music is difficult to define. In an interview with Musicworks contributing editorContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 144?”
Jessica Moss Explores the Orchestra Within
If there is a through line connecting traditional Eastern European klezmer, indie rock, and experimental drone music, it can be found in the work of Jessica Moss. Whether her music is acoustic or electronic, post-rock or post-classical, a stark and dramatic amplified violin performance or a lively klezmer tune with mandolin and Yiddish vocals, Moss’sContinue reading “Jessica Moss Explores the Orchestra Within”
The Quasi-Punk-Rock Life of Du Yun
Whether exploring a musical idea on her own or working with a new collaborator, Du Yun follows her intuition. The New York-based composer, performer, and curator—currently professor of composition at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University and distinguished visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music—has said that her work is often aboutContinue reading “The Quasi-Punk-Rock Life of Du Yun”
Chloe Alexandra Thompson’s Meaningful Exchanges
Chloe Alexandra Thompson has always thought of sound as something visceral. “I think, if I trace it back, my first sound installation happened when I discovered that the fabric in front of loudspeakers could move from the sound vibrations,” she tells me. “I just freaked out and started building this string situation in the livingContinue reading “Chloe Alexandra Thompson’s Meaningful Exchanges”
Ohama’s Alternative Dimensions
Tona Walt Ohama has lived many lives. Born on a potato farm in Southern Alberta, he has spent the past forty years making passionate, deeply personal music while forging friendly connections with anyone who enters his orbit. Since his debut album, the 1982 cassette release Midnite News, Ohama has become a prolific producer and sound-artContinue reading “Ohama’s Alternative Dimensions”
Mariana Vieira’s The Unexpected Encounter with Diversity
Electronic music has the potential to free composers and sounds from physical and cultural constraints while also bringing those elements closer together. Composer Mariana Vieira has been exploring ideas in this creative space since her undergraduate studies in composition at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML), where she is currently pursuing her master’s inContinue reading “Mariana Vieira’s The Unexpected Encounter with Diversity”