International Computer Music Conference 2004: Concerts (review)

This review covers the first ten concerts of the 2004 International Computer Music Conference. Firstly, kudos to Colby Lieder of the University of Miami for hosting an excellent conference and to Paul Koonce and the members of the Music Selection Committee for programming a series of concerts featuring a wide array of techniques and styles.

Rather than go concert-by-concert, piece-by-piece, I will divide the works into three broad categories: live performances, video, and "tape" pieces. I won't be able to comment on every piece in the space allotted to this review, but I will try to mention particularly memorable works (while undoubtedly leaving out some that deserve notice) and provide a sample of works covering the spectrum of aesthetic and technical practices in evidence.

Live Performances

Music containing live performance elements outnumbered both video and "tape" works by quite a bit. Flautist Elizabeth McNutt was the busiest performer of the week, appearing in four pieces. A highly sought-after interpreter of new music, Ms. McNutt performed these widely varying pieces splendidly. Robert Rowe's turbulent and exciting Flutter began with the flute actuating a cascade of, yes, fluttery sounds in the electronics with these frequently falling gestures at times overwhelming the live flute. Later, her restrained lyrical playing was accompanied by swooping gestures in the electronics, and the work was brought to a close with the electronic sound spinning out into space.

Eric Lyon's Onceathon 2 was a gloriously absurd mix of stylistic clichés including rock, blues, new age, and, of course, computer music. An intentionally over-the-top computer solo in the middle of the piece with Ms. McNutt waiting in a state of patient amusement brought chuckles from the audience. Russell Pinkston's Lizamander presented a careful balance of traditionally stark computer-generated sounds and attractive harmonic and rhythmic elements. The composer used the interactive environment to lay down a pulsating groove and simultaneously to allow Ms. McNutt to expressively place her lyrical, computer-enhanced gestures. The work reached an expressive climax with a beautiful chordal passage built from the flute's notes.

Several pieces included dance elements. The intriguing Ich, mich und mir was performed by the group Palindrome with choreography and dance by Emily Fernandez, Robert Wechsler, and Helena Zwiauer, music by Peter Dowling, and motion tracking hardware and software by Frieder Weiss. This work used the idea of shadow play to allow the dancer's movements to trigger sounds prominently based on the spoken word. The idea of shadows was present in the barely heard echoes of conversation in the sound and abstract afterimages of the dancers in the video projection. Wayne Siegel's Sisters, inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was performed by Patricia Pawlik and Deborah Macedo with choreography by Marie Brolin-Tani. The dancers wore wireless sensors on their knees and elbows allowing them to trigger sounds using dramatic gestures such as throwing an arm out while at the same time giving them some freedom of movement, such as moving their head or upper body, without sending triggers. The sounds triggered by the dancers began with voice-like samples, followed by bright, sharp sounds, harsh percussive clouds, and, finally, sounds with a watery texture.

There are three works that deserve credit for presenting the oddest objects on stage. Mari Kimura's Guitar Botana consisted of the composer on violin, electronics tracking that performance, and accompaniment by the "guitarbot" created by the League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (LEMUR). The guitarbot consists of four large "fingerboards," each with a single string bearing that fresh-from-the-machine-shop look, attached by a springy mechanism to a table. In performance, the four strings are "fretted" and plucked by electro-mechanical means. The piece was largely fast-paced and virtuosic, showing off the guitarbot's slide technique and mandolin-style rapid-fire picking.

Juraj Kojs's Garden of the Dragon consisted of six performers first crinkling a huge pile of cellophane that had been heaped atop a microphone and then swinging plastic...