FULL TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Buffalo has long held an aura of adventure for me. The first time I visited the city, I was intrigued by the impressive collection of modernist work at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, where I returned often in the 1970s, driving from Toronto with a carful of my fellowContinue reading “Buffalo New Music”
Genre Archives
Summer 2013
The Venice Biennale 56th International Festival of Contemporary Music.
Using the words “Venice” and “music” together likely brings Vivaldi to mind. Or if one says Venice Biennale, thoughts turn to contemporary art or perhaps film or architecture. Yet the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music just marked its fifty-sixth edition. Why is it that this festival, with such longevity, with a stated concern for exploringContinue reading “The Venice Biennale 56th International Festival of Contemporary Music.”
Erdem Helvacioglu
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY When you’re caught up in the thick of it, all those cute, clichéd little epithets about turning life’s lemons into lemonade, spinning grave fuck-ups into rapturous inspiration, and the like, hardly seem to hold any wisdom whatsoever. Things suddenly went awry for Turkish composer and performer Erdem Helvacioglu whileContinue reading “Erdem Helvacioglu”
Nicolas Bernier and Martin Messier
“La chambre des machines is a project where two electronic musicians are driven by the desire to be involved, as physically as they can be, in a performance context,” explains Nicolas Bernier, discussing his ongoing collaborative work with Martin Messier. “It’s not a conceptual piece; it was made in action, from day one.” The actionContinue reading “Nicolas Bernier and Martin Messier”
Casa Da Música Builds A Home For Experimental Music
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY 1497. Lisbon, Portugal. Navigator Vasco da Gama commands the first ship to sail from Europe to India. During the fifteenth century Portugal’s navigators are at the cutting edge of innovation and world discovery, their travel exploits feats of experimental technique. While Vasco da Gama discovered the world’s vastness andContinue reading “Casa Da Música Builds A Home For Experimental Music”
Eldad Tsabary
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY Israeli-Canadian composer Eldad Tsabary is omnivorous when it comes to digesting various influences, both musical and otherwise. With strong ties to Montreal’s electroacoustic scene, and as a lecturer in Concordia University’s electroacoustics program, Tsabary’s music takes the broadest definition of electroacoustics to heart. His work is influenced by acousmaticContinue reading “Eldad Tsabary”
Eliot Britton
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY By his own account, Eliot Britton’s music treads dangerous territory. “I represent huge problems with art music and the whole idea of art music,” he says, and goes on to describe how in his compositions within the context of his Ph.D. in music research at McGill University, he’s inchingContinue reading “Eliot Britton”
Olivia Block
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY The sound of a clarinet passage emerges from a quiet section and is punctuated by a series of minute electronic tones. Accompanying the clarinet is a recording of the wind, but the sound is more than just that of a rush of wind; it is the sound ofContinue reading “Olivia Block”
Clint Conley and Hildegard Westerkamp
FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY You haven’t picked up your guitar in weeks, if not months. You stare at the staff paper and the rows of empty lines burn an impression on your retina. Is this just writer’s block, or is it gone for good? Many artists have an up-and-down, on-again-off-again relationship withContinue reading “Clint Conley and Hildegard Westerkamp”