Leah Reid Leah Reid (b. 1985, New Hampshire) writes vibrant compositions that examine the innermost nature of sounds. Her work is noted for its exploration of time, timbre, and texture. Reid holds a D.M.A. and M.A. in composition from Stanford University and a B.Mus from McGill University. She has won numerous awards, including the International Alliance for Women in Music's Pauline Oliveros Prize for her piece Pressure, and the Film Score Award in Frame Dance Productions’ Music Composition Competition. Reid’s works have been performed in the United States, Canada, and Europe, with notable performances by the Jack Quartet, Sound Gear, Talea, Yarn/Wire, and McGill’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. Reid’s principal teachers include Mark Applebaum, Jonathan Berger, Brian Ferneyhough, and Sean Ferguson. Additional information may be found at www.leahreidmusic.com. Ring, Resonate, Resound Program Note Ring, Resonate, Resound is an acousmatic composition written in homage to John Chowning. The piece tips its hat to Chowning’s Stria, Turenas, and the beautiful sonic landscape Chowning explored through his research and discovery of FM synthesis. Ring, Resonate, Resound is dedicated to him. The composition explores timbre through dozens of bell sounds, which provide the harmonic and timbral material, structure, foreground, and background for the piece. The composition is comprised of five sections, each examining a different set of bells and materials that interact with them. The piece begins thin and bright, then gradually increases in spectral and textural density until the listener is enveloped by a thick sound mass of ringing bells. The bells gently fade into waves of rich harmonic resonances. The piece was composed using a multidimensional timbre model Reid developed while at Stanford University. The model is based on perceptual timbre studies and has been used by the composer to explore the compositional applications of “timbre spaces” and the relationship between reverberant space and timbre, or rather the concept of “timbre in space.” Ring, Resonate, Resound was premiered at Stanford University’s Triple CCRMAlite: 40, 50, 80 celebration in October of 2014. William Price William Price’s music has been performed in Europe, South America, Asia, and throughout the United States. His works have been featured at such events as the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the Música Viva Festival in Portugal, the Musinfo Art and Science Days in France, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and the Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference. Price’s music has received awards and commissions from numerous organizations, including the Music Teachers National Association, ASCAP, the Percussive Arts Society, NACUSA, the Southeastern Composers League, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. William’s music is available on Ablaze Records, Summit Records, Innova Recordings, New Focus Recordings, EMPIRES Recordings, and Mark Records. William received his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Composition from Louisiana State University, and currently teaches courses in music theory and composition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Triptych: Three Studies in Gesture and Noise Program Note Inspired by the abstract paintings of Gerhard Richter and Francis Bacon, Triptych: Three Studies in Gesture and Noise is a two-channel electroacoustic composition that explores and develops artifacts found in the space between recorded sounds. It is a three-part, cyclical assemblage based primarily on noise, musical remnants, and studio debris. Composed using Csound, Cecilia, MacPod, and ProTools software, each part focuses on two to three main gestures: Part I uses as its source material sounds usually associated with the pre-concert ritual (warming-up, tuning, moving stands, and the scrape of a piano bench sliding across a stage floor); Part II unfolds slowly and juxtaposes long, high pitched granular threads with low pitched glissandi, all of which were extracted from the previous bench scrape; and Part III focuses on sculpted noise, sweeping gestures, and extreme changes in timbre and texture. Triptych was created in the composer’s home studio in Birmingham, Alabama, and premiered at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi on September 6, 2014. Chris Arrell Chris Arrell (b. 1970, Portland, Oregon) composes music for throats, fingers, and oscillators that has been praised for its nuance and unconventional beauty (New Music Box, Boston Music Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal Constitution) and reflecting his equal admiration of timbral composition and his first love, the electric guitar. Arrell’s commissions include the Alte Schmiede (Austria), Boston Musica Viva, MATA, Spivey Hall, Cornell, and the Fromm Foundation, among others. A winner of the 2014 Ettelson Composer Award for his work Of Three Minds, Arrell holds additional prizes from Ossia Music, the League of Composers/ISCM, the Martirano Competition, the MacDowell and ACA colonies, and the Fulbright-Hays Foundation. Arrell’s music is available from Beauport Classical, Electroshock Records, Parma Recordings, and Trevco. He is an Associate Professor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. chrisarrell(dot)com Silver Riot Program Note Commissioned by the Alte Schmiede (Vienna), Silver Riot incorporates physical movement into the electronic studio. Track-pads, keystrokes, and hacked game controllers trigger, alter, and record sounds in real-time, adding spontaneity and performance to the compositional process. The result is both controlled and free, Apollo and Dionysus dancing a choreographed improvisation. Software used in the composition of Silver Riot included Open Music, Max, Pro Tools and Spear. Peter Hulen Peter Hulen is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music whose works are heard at festivals and conferences across the US and abroad. He serves as Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana where he teaches music theory, composition, electronic music, and humanities courses. He received a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of Tulsa, a Master of Music in Composition from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, an Intermediate Certificate in Mandarin Chinese from the Beijing International Studies University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Music from Michigan State University. He performs with the Indiana recorder consort Miscellanea Musica and the Chancel Choir of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette, Indiana. He also landscape gardens, gourmet cooks, and tries to maintain some kind of contemplative practice. Organum on Ash Grove Program Note In Organum on Ash Grove, the fundamental frequencies of its digitally synthesized sounds are related to each other according to a superparticular set of ratios beginning 17:16, 18:17, 19:18, etc., through 32:31. This forms a musical scale according to which all pitches in the work are related to each other. The sounds of this electronic piece reflect a variety of combined digital synthesis techniques. The overall texture is analogous to organum, a form of polyphony dating from the 12th century, but with the frequency relationships indicated. The US American hymn tune ASH GROVE is slowly described in long, low note values (analogous to the tenor in an organum texture), while rapid, randomly generated higher frequency gestures in harmonic-series relation occur within pre-composed patterns (analogous to the duplum part in organum). This piece was premiered at the 2008 International Computer Music Conference at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was subsequently performed at the 2008 Electronic Music Midwest Festival at Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois USA, the Society for Composers, Inc. 2009 National Conference, Santa Fe, New Mexico USA, and the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States 2009 National Conference at Sweetwater Sound, Fort Wayne, Indiana USA. It is part of a series of electronic organum-style works by composer Peter Hulen on the hymn tunes FOUNDATION, ASH GROVE, ST. DENIO, AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Shuai Yao Shuai Yao is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. She currently teaches composition at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China. Yao earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in Music composition and theory from Central Conservatory of Music in China and a M.M. in Music Composition and theory from Ball State University in United States. Yao’s works has received many composition prizes, such as “the International Alliance for Women for New Music Competition,” “TMSK LiuTianHua National Chamber Folk Music Competition, in China,” and “American World Cup International Traditional Instrumental Music Competition.” Her work Sheng Sheng Man was published by JOMAR Press. Yao’s works have been performed worldwide and have been chosen for presentation by several conferences and music festivals, including the 9th International Festival of Women Composers at University of Pennsylvania; the 9th annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu; the College Music Society 3rd Pacific Southwest Regional Conference in Pepperdine University; the College Music Society 41st Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference University of North Carolina-Greensboro in Greensboro; the Region VI Conference in Society of Composers, Inc.; the third annual UCM New Music Festival, and the International Modern Music festival in Daegu, Korea. White Night Program Note White Night is based on Pipa sounds. The pipa is a Chinese traditional instrument with a very particular timber. It is a four-stringed musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments and sometimes called the Chinese lute since the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body. The pipa has a dramatic and unique sound. I used these sound fragments of the pipa as the basis of different changes to its timber through electronic manipulation and rhythm change to create a work with a rich sound and multiple timbral levels. Jason Richmond Jason Richmond received his Doctorate in Music Composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His works, both acoustic and electronic, have been performed throughout the United States, including performances of his computer music at the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, the Electro-acoustic Barn Dance Music Festival, a performance at Kainan University in Taiwan in late 2014, and a performance at the Manchester Music Festival in March 2015. Dr. Richmond received his Bachelor of Music in Composition at Northern Kentucky University under Dr. Philip Koplow, his Masters degree in Music Composition under Dr. Steve Rouse at the University of Louisville, and was under the direction of Dr. Joel Hoffman, Dr. Michael Fiday, and Dr. Mara Helmuth at CCM for his D.M.A. He is the recipient of CCM’s Composer Competition Award and was commissioned by the CCM Philharmonia to write a new work during there 2013/2014 season. Jason lives in Northern Kentucky with his dog, Tripp. PLuCK Program Note PLuCK is a fixed-­‐format work of computer music without using any “found” sounds from the environment. All the material used in this piece is generated by oscillators/sound generators from recording programs, mainly Logic Pro X and Audacity, the latter being the basis of the sound material. Audacity has an extensive and quite impressive array of plug-­‐ins and sound generators. The pluck and drum oscillators are what make up the bulk of the sound material, processed with Audacity’s plug-­‐ins, and with the help of Logic Pro X’s unique sound library, layered with additional textures. In all of my fixed-­‐format electronic music, the idea of Artificial Intelligence plays a key role in how I think and work within this genre. The idea that a computer can help in any way to “create” sounds and process material so easily can make one question how much of the compositional process is really being decided by the composer. When I listen to certain sounds and textures that I have edited and processed, I often wonder how much of the structural process is now being determined by how the computer has manipulated these sounds. This has led me to form a relationship with my electronic music as if the computer is collaborating with me to achieve the realization of my work. Chin Ting Chan Raised in Hong Kong, composer Chin Ting (Patrick) CHAN (b. 1986) has held faculty positions at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and Kansas City Kansas Community College. He has been a fellow and guest composer at the International Computer Music Conference, the International Rostrum of Composers, IRCAM’s ManiFeste, June in Buffalo and the Wellesley Composers Conference. Among his awards are those from the Interdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art, the Soli fan tutti Composition Prize, the American Prize, ASCAP, Association for the Promotion of New Music, the Charlotte Street Foundation, Foundation for Modern Music, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Missouri Music Teacher Association, newEar, the New-Music Consortium and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His works are published with Darling’s Acoustical Delight, Melos Music, the Music from SEAMUS CD Series, the SCI Journal of Music Scores and Unfolding Music Publishing (ASCAP). Whispers of Time Program Note Whispers of Time is a 14-minute sonic exploration on the elapse of time, the stretch of time, and the reverse of time. Various sound samples have been manipulated and processed in ways that significantly affect the time domain of the samples, using mostly custom patches made with Cycling 74’s Max 6 program. Throughout the composition, one hears layers of gestures move through a three-dimensional sonic space, emulating as well as alternating between hyper-real and surreal soundscapes. The multi-layer projection of the sound stage adds much depth to the music, and creates a sound world existing only in one’s imagination. The juxtaposition of contrasting events of various lengths eventually became an inspiration for the title. John Nichols III John Nichols III is a composer of intriguing music created from a wide diversity of sonic phenomena melded into an expressive form. Nichols has received international recognition for his electroacoustic works and has had compositions performed at events such as Gaudeamus Muziekweek, International Computer Music Conference, and Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States – among others. His compositions are honored with awards such as the 2014 Luigi Russolo Grand Prix, First Luigi Russolo Prize (France, Spain), First Prize Absolute in the International Composition Competition “Città di Udine” Tenth Edition “Electro-acoustic music” section (2014, Italy), First Prize in the 2014 ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Composer Commission Competition (USA), First Prize in the Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (WOCMAT) International Phil Winsor Electroacoustic Music Young Composers Awards (2013, Taiwan), and winner of the 2013 Conlon Music Prize for Disklavier Plus (Netherlands). Nichols' works have also received recognition from the Prix Destellos (2013, Argentina), Métamorphoses Competition (2012, Brussels), and the Morton Gould ASCAP Young Composer's Competition (2011). His latest compositions are published on Musique & Recherches, SEAMUS, Monochrome Vision, and ABLAZE Records. Nichols recently served as an associate artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts with master artist Professor Jonty Harrison and as a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he won the Fourteenth Annual 21st Century Piano Commission Competition. Nichols' compositions have been broadcasted nationally and internationally on radio stations including WNUR (Evanston, IL), KUAC (Fairbanks, AK), WEFT (Champaign, IL), WOBC (Oberlin, OH), VPRO (Netherlands), RTÉ Lyric (Ireland), FM Barcelona, and Radio France. South Gate Program Notes Partly inspired by the prairie style of architecture innovated by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, South Gate conveys a sense of forward motion without return or recapitulation. In Wright's architectural masterpiece, the Robie House, the maze-like quality of the structure suggests an entry point or opening that is not returned to. This element of the prairie style brings to mind the book of Ezekiel, which reads, “he shall not return by way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it” (46:9). This passage refers to how the people are to enter and depart the inner court for sacred activity. Reflecting these influences, South Gate proceeds through a “path of discovery” to which it does not return. Geometric continuity is represented in repetition found at the conclusion of the work. Filtering acts as a means of achieving an architecturally compressed and expanded space within the audible spectrum. The symbolism of a “gate” may be loosely interpreted as a passage from one place to another; however, the overt narrative connection that sonically emulates a typical creaking gate is overused, and therefore avoided in this electroacoustic aphorism. South Gate was completed in the Spring of 2015.