Instrumentation: Flute/Piccolo/Bass Flute, Oboe, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Percussion (1 player), Harp, Solo Piano/Solo Synthesizer, Synthesizer 2, Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass.
Duration: 23 minutes
Premiere Performance: May 04, 2018; Logan Center for the Arts; Ensemble Dal Niente, Winston Choi–soloist, and Michael Lewanski– conductor. Chicago, IL
suggested affinities
concerto for piano, large ensemble (13 musicians) and electronics
2018
The gravitational center of suggested affinities is the piano sound itself, which is ramified and given new plasticity through its interaction with the ensemble, electronics, and an obbligato trio of timbrally related instruments (harp, vibraphone, and digital keyboard). The narrative of the composition explores affinities and differences between the piano and its related family members, between the acoustic and digital domains, and finally, between mechanized and animate sound.
The electronic component features realistic sounding meta-instruments—instruments with an unusually expanded palette for articulation, microtonal inflection, tessitura, resonance, and noise elements. Through the use of hardware “prosthetics”—localized speakers, keyboards, and/or pedals—the solo pianist and obbligato trio trigger digital instrumental simulations (with its new vocabulary of estranged possibilities) that blend in real-time with their acoustic counterpart.
suggested affinities is the culmination of research carried out over a series of works using meta-instruments written between 2014-17. It combines previous instrumental expansions and further develops the project by interacting with non-instrumental sounds. Murmurs, breaths, groans and other vocal emulations, are included in the orchestration and electronics in an attempt to fashion a piano with a physical—organic—body. Thus, as the machine-like properties of the piano amplify, so does its dream of becoming a biological being.
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concerto for piano, large ensemble (13 musicians) and electronics
2018
The gravitational center of suggested affinities is the piano sound itself, which is ramified and given new plasticity through its interaction with the ensemble, electronics, and an obbligato trio of timbrally related instruments (harp, vibraphone, and digital keyboard). The narrative of the composition explores affinities and differences between the piano and its related family members, between the acoustic and digital domains, and finally, between mechanized and animate sound.
The electronic component features realistic sounding meta-instruments—instruments with an unusually expanded palette for articulation, microtonal inflection, tessitura, resonance, and noise elements. Through the use of hardware “prosthetics”—localized speakers, keyboards, and/or pedals—the solo pianist and obbligato trio trigger digital instrumental simulations (with its new vocabulary of estranged possibilities) that blend in real-time with their acoustic counterpart.
suggested affinities is the culmination of research carried out over a series of works using meta-instruments written between 2014-17. It combines previous instrumental expansions and further develops the project by interacting with non-instrumental sounds. Murmurs, breaths, groans and other vocal emulations, are included in the orchestration and electronics in an attempt to fashion a piano with a physical—organic—body. Thus, as the machine-like properties of the piano amplify, so does its dream of becoming a biological being.
