Grass Roots

© 1999 ISAST R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y LEONARDO MUSIC JOURNAL, Vol. 9, p. 3, 1999 3 Grass Roots is a structured improvisation for large ensemble and open instrumentation. The performers are dispersed throughout the performance space and connected by a network of strings used to signal each other (Fig. 1). The signals, at times obvious and at other times enigmatic, add a theatrical element to the performance. The sonic material focuses on the development of timbral “roots” suggested by text on the score (Fig. 2). Each word group represents a root; the print size of each word indicates its relative importance within the group. While interpreting the timbral roots, the musicians often use conventional instruments in unconventional ways. Frequently, more than one root develops and moves through the space simultaneously. The work was premiered 6 February 1999 by the Ensemble United Berlin as part of the concert Quiet and Political, curated by Christian Wolff. C O M P O S E R ’ S N O T E B O O K Grass Roots Krystyna Bobrowski Krystyna Bobrowski, (musician, composer, teacher) P.O. Box 9838, Oakland, CA 94613, U.S.A. Works published as Composer’s Notebook entries in Leonardo Music Journal may include composers’ texts published in raw, unedited form, scores, working notes, schematics, diagrams or other documentation of the artist’s creative process. Fig. 1. Grass Roots, structured improvisation for large ensemble and open instrumentation, floor plan, 1999. Fig. 2. Grass Roots, structured improvisation for large ensemble and open instrumentation, score, 1999. Krystyna Bobrowski is a composer and musician living in Oakland, CA. In addition to concert works, she has created interactive sound installations , daylong performances and experimental musical instruments that anyone can play. She received her M.F.A. in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College, Oakland, CA, and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1997–1998 and at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin, CA, in 1993. She works as a sound designer and teaches electronic music at the College of San Mateo, California. Her scores are available from Frog Peak Music Collective, Lebanon, NH. ...