 |
New Skin (2003-2004)
| composer |
Alexandra Gardner (b. 1967) |
| performers |
Barbara Held, alto flute
Alexandra Gardner, computer |
| affiliation |
BMI |
| label |
innova Recordings 662http://www.innova.mu
|
| duration |
14:59 |
Alexandra Gardner:
"New Skin was written for flutist Barbara Held. It combines processed recordings of Barbara playing, field recordings of dawn from Barcelona and Barbara's country home in Spain, digitally-processed gong and percussion sounds, and live alto flute in a structured improvisation. The computer part is performed live with the flute, using the program Max/MSP to trigger and combine sound files. The piece is divided into three sections, and the performers work together to decide when to move from one section to the next.
"In many cultures sunrise is received with rituals of respect and thankfulness, acknowledged as a new beginning, or rebirth. In this composition my intention is to evoke an arrival into 'light' -- a sense of awakening to a new day."
Alexandra Gardner (b. 1967) explores the details of acoustic sound to create sonic landscapes of shifting rhythms and unfolding textures. She draws inspiration from sources ranging from mythology to contemporary poetry and her background as a percussionist and audio engineer.
A native of Washington, DC, Gardner studied music composition at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. Her principal teachers were Annea Lockwood, Richard Wilson, Morton Subotnick, and Ronald Caltabiano. Gardner's music has been presented at festivals and performance spaces throughout the US, Europe, and Asia including the Aspen Music Festival, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Joyce SoHo, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, and Metrònom. Performers who have champioined her work include accordionist Teodoro Anzelotti, flutist Barbara Held, Contemporary Music Forum, Percussions de Barcelona, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, and bass clarinetist Harry Sparnaay.
Garnder has received honors and commissions from the American Composers Forum, CrossSound Music Festival, Meet the Composer, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Netherland-America Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution, among others. She has been a composer-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Harvestworks, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and MacDowell Colony. From 2002 to 2004 she was a visiting composer at the IUA/Phonos Foundation in Barcelona, Spain.
related websites
http://www.jigsawmusic.org
Barbara Held is a flutist and composer based in Barcelona, Spain. She has collaborated and performed with artists in a wide range of media, including visual artists Eugènia Balcells, Francesca Llopis, and Paloma Navares; film/video artists Jordi Cadena and Toni Serra; and composers Robert Ashley, Eleanor Hovda, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Carles Santos, and Yasunao Tone. Held has recorded a CD of new music for solo flute on the Lovely Music label, as well as a collaborative CD-ROM entitled Paraparèmies; Desplaçaments; Cosificacions which received first prize for multimedia art at the 1999 Concurso de Creación Audiovisual in Navarra, Spain. Her many collaborative installations include svar/svara, an ongoing series exploring the relationship between light and sound, and Microcòsmics, a project curated by Joan Fontcuberta featuring a number of artists working with electron microscope imagery. Held was the founder and until 2003 director of a yearly festival of experimental music at the Barcelona alternative art space Metrònom. Recent projects include a virtual recording of Inmersión Sonora, an experiment-installation-poetic performance based on the field theory of modern physics, published in the magazine FO(A)RM. Held originally studied with flutists Jean-Pierre Rampal, Mary Roberts Wilson, Emil Opava, and William Bennett.
related websites
http://www.barbaraheld.com
| |
