Festival Of Electronic Music Held At 'Berg
Muhlenberg College will host a Festival of Electronic Music from Monday, March 20 through Friday, March 24, 2006, with events including concerts, public lectures and interactive multimedia installations.Wednesday, February 1, 2006 01:59 PM
All events will take place in the College’s Baker Center for the Arts and are free and open to the public.
The Festival, organized by Dr. Diane Follet, assistant professor of music, and Dr. Douglas Ovens, professor of music and former chair of the music department, is dedicated to the memory of Robert Moog (1934-2005), inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, and often regarded as the father of electronic music.
Festival of Electronic Music Schedule of Events:
Monday, March 20
Public Lecture and Concert
“New Frontiers”
John Eaton
Composer, Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar
8 p.m., Empie Theatre
The lecture will focus on significant recent developments in musical techniques and materials, and the concert will include a performance of “Microtonal Fantasy” for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart.
Called "the most interesting opera composer writing in America today," John Eaton is internationally recognized as a composer and performer of electronic and microtonal music. In his chamber, vocal, and orchestral music, Eaton expands the traditional tools of the composer through microtonal scales - using a fuller spectrum of notes per octave than the usual twelve tones - and electronic instruments, such as the Syn-Ket.
Wednesday, March 22
Interactive Multimedia Installation
“Rainforest”
The McLean Mix
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Martin Art Gallery
Barton and Priscilla McLean (the McLean Mix) are classically-trained composer/performers who are exploring new means of integrating thematic interests such as nature, multicultural areas, and world history of the arts into their performances.
Using sounds and photographs from the McLeans’ visits to the world’s tropical rainforests, the installation lets the listener/viewer become a performer by creating music over a sultry drone.
Concert
“Rainforest”
The McLean Mix
11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Martin Art Gallery
The McLeans present a performance of “Rainforest.”
Concert
“Music by Douglas Ovens’’
Douglas Ovens
Composer, Percussionist
8 p.m., Recital Hall
The concert is a presentation of new works by Muhlenberg Professor Douglas Ovens.
Ovens, who directs the College’s electronic music studio, recently released a CD, “Seven Improvisations for Solo Percussion.” His work can also be heard on “American Debuts: Piano Music by American Composers,” (Moving Image, for piano) and “Constantinides, Lorentzen, Ovens and others” (Play Us a Tune, for mezzo-soprano & orchestra). Ovens has composed dozens of electronic music pieces and performed internationally. He is also a regular at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Thursday, March 23
Interactive Multimedia Installation
“Rainforest”
The McLean Mix
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Martin Art Gallery
(See Wednesday, March 22, for description.)
Concert
“Docu-Art”, Documentary Art & Music
Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner
8 p.m., Recital Hall
The concert features multimedia works integrating videos and music. Anthony Simons, Muhlenberg Adjunct Professor, will perform a new piece, “Spellbound,” for soprano saxophone and tape.
Hinkle-Turner is the author of the book series Women Composers and Music Technology: Crossing the Line (volume one: United States Ashgate Press, London, January 2006) and the cd-rom Full Circle. She has won awards from the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, ASCAP, Mu Phi Epsilon, Meet the Composer, and the American Music Center, and has been composer-in-residence at the Studios für electronische Musik of West Deutscher Rundfunk in Cologne. Composer residencies have been held at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Michigan State University, Abilene Christian University, and Frostburg State University ( Maryland). Her pieces are available through the Electronic Music Foundation at www.emf.org .
Friday, March 24
Round Table Discussion
Douglas Ovens, Barton and Priscilla McLean, Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner
11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Recital Hall
The round table brings the artists together for conversation and questions from the audience.
Concert
“MILLing in the ENNIUM”
The McLean Mix
8 p.m., Empie Theatre
In this concert, the McLeans present unusual music and visual images in a unique blend of high tech with virtuosic performance. The event is informal, and the artists will discuss each work and entertain questions from the audience.
