The Gassmann Electronic Music Series presents

ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC FROM PARIS 8

A concert curated by Alain Bonardi

Alain Bonardi

Thursday April 29, 2021
11:00 am PDT (2:00 pm EDT, 8:00 pm GMT+2)
https://uci.zoom.us/j/97945526071

Works by Aline Gorisse, Yoko Konishi, Ariadna Alsina, Anne Sèdes, Alain Bonardi, and Jean-Claude Risset

 


This concert is part of a residency project of French composer Alain Bonardi made possible through the Jazz & New Music artistic fund, a program of FACE Foundation, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.


 

Program

Atelier III — Aline Gorisse
Christopher Dobrian, guitar
Bella Pepke, cello

Jellyfish in the sun — Yoko Konishi
Stephanie Aston, soprano
Rochelle Lewis, cello

Fil de Soi 2 — Alain Bonardi
Alexander Dunn, guitar

Ne pleurez pas insectes (boue qui s'écoule...) — Ariadna Alsina
Stephanie Aston, soprano
Bella Pepke, cello

Immersion — Anne Sèdes
Rochelle Lewis, cello

Dans la Nef de nos songes — Alain Bonardi
Steven Lewis, video

Inharmonique — Jean-Claude Risset
Kirstin Ashley Wiest, soprano

The videos of this concert are all available on a dedicated YouTube playlist.

 


 

Bios

The composer Ariadna Alsina Tarrés was born near Figueres (Catalonia, Spain). She studied Violin (Sup. Conservatory of Liceo, Barcelona) and Sonology at the High School of Music of Catalonia—ESMUC, where she oriented her musical activity towards composition studying with L. Naon, G. Brncic, F. Pastor. Afterwards, she studied in Paris with J. M. López López, H. Vaggione, A. Sèdes, Ch. Groult, H. Parra, M. Matalón. In 2015-2016 she completed the Cursus at IRCAM and she also completed the Master in Composition of Mixed Music at HEM Genève, where she took courses with P. Dusapin, L. Naón and M. Jarrell. She received Masterclasses by K. Saariaho, F. Bedrossian, M. Stroppa, P. Manoury, F. Filidei, and L. Francesconi. She is influenced by spectromorphology theory and she is interested in the malleability of sound material. Her music has been played in Europe—Festival Manifeste Paris, GRM Concerts, Zeppelin and Phonos in Barcelona, EmuFest in Roma, BFM in Genève, etc.—the U.S. (Chicago), and Chile (Valparaiso). She develops research on mixed music composition under the supervisors Makis Solomos and Alain Bonardi at Paris 8 University. Since September 2019 she is assistant of the Composition Class at Haute Ecole de Musique of Genève.

Stephanie Aston is "fearless" in her pursuit of new repertoire (Steve Schick). She has participated in numerous American and world premieres including Luigi Nono's Guai ai Gelidi Mostri, Michael Gordon's What to Wear, and George Aperghis' Sextuor: L'Origine des espèces. She has appeared on L.A. Philharmonic Green Umbrella, Noon to Midnight and Chamber Music Series, (Re)Sounds at Stanford University, and at REDCAT. Ms. Aston is an original member of Kallisti, and a founding member of ROMP Ensemble, ASTRALIS DUO and Accordant Commons. She has performed with Los Angeles Philharmonic, wasteLAnd, Long Beach Opera, The Industry, Red Fish Blue Fish, Gnarwhallaby, Chamber Cartel, 18 Squared, and ad hoc ensembles at Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Norfolk Contemporary Music Festival, UC San Diego, Stanford University, Chatter and Los Angeles. Stephanie is an affiliated artist with San Diego New Music. Noteworthy performances include Brian Ferneyhough's Etudes Transcendantales, John Zorn's Rituals, Jason Eckardt's Tongues, John Adams's A Flowering Tree (Kumudha), Edgard Varèse's Offrandes, Igor Stravinsky's Les Noces, and Alberto Ginastera's Cantata Para America Magica. Stephanie can be heard on the soundtrack for the movie Downsizing. She holds a D.M.A. from University of California San Diego, an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts, and a B.M. from University of North Texas, and currently teaches at Moorpark College and Mount St Mary's University.

Alain Bonardi is a composer and researcher. He develops his artistic research in the field of mixed music, especially in the framework of such cycles as Fil de Soi for acoustic guitar and electronics, Lire de Soi for octave mandola or mandoloncello and electronics, and Pianotronics for piano and electronics. He also works on spatial synthesis of sound (intricating synthesis processes and spatialization processes) either in installations such as Les Songes de la nef (Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre, 2018) or the acousmatic piece Dans la Nef de nos songes (2019). He is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science and Music Creation at the Music Department of the Université Paris 8, and a member of the Centre de Recherches Informatique et Création Musicale (CICM).

Canadian guitarist Alexander Dunn has performed in solo, ensemble, and concerto performances across the globe. Equally at home in standard repertoire, period instruments and contemporary music, Mr. Dunn is also a respected pedagogue and educator, having built one of North America's strongest guitar programs in Victoria, BC.

Christopher Dobrian is professor of composition and computer music in the department of music at UC Irvine, where he is director of the Gassmann Electronic Music Studios. He studied guitar with the Spanish masters Celin and Pepe Romero.

Aline Gorisse is a 25-year-old composer studying and creating electroacoustic and instrumental music at the CRR93 in Paris. She also works as a sound engineer at *Duuu Radio in La Villette, Paris, a local media outlet dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art. She graduated from Université Paris 8 in 2020 with a master's degree in composition and research. Her master's thesis focused on the exploration of the concepts of soundscapes and "soundspaces". Aline is interested in mixing musical and instrumental sounds with everyday sounds. She likes to mix musical and non-musical contexts to provoke different listening conditions for the audience.

Yoko Konishi is a Japanese composer and soprano. She studied piano from the age of three. She received her lyrical singing prize and composition prize unanimously at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, and graduated with a master's degree from Université Paris 8.

Rochelle Lewis was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and lived there until she and her family moved to the United States in 2005. She started her cello studies at the age of three. Her private cello teachers over the years include Ben Hong, Sarah Koo, and Mihail Jojatu. Although she is a classically trained cellist, she enjoys playing and learning all kinds of music genres. In 2018, she graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Music in cello performance. Since graduating, she has dedicated her time to teaching music and freelance performing. Rochelle currently lives in Orange County, California, with her pug, Serena, and her chihuahua, Willow.

Steven Lewis is a drummer, technologist, and multimedia artist. His creative work and scholarly research has been presented at the New York City Electro-Acoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), and GameSoundCon. His music, visual art, and research can be found at www.smlewisportfolio.com.

Bella Pepke is a cellist and bassist pursuing her love of music and performance at UCI in an M.F.A. in cello performance. Her current research is focused on jazz cellists, culminating in a soon-to-be-published website. Ms. Pepke's philosophy of music and cello playing is heavily influenced by the musicians she has worked with briefly including Kishi Bashi, Black Violin, and Barbara Morrison, as well as the musicians she continues to work with such as Sarah Koo, Gary Matsuura, Albert Alva, Jeff Mercer, and Darek Oles. She finds that whether performing in a church, jazz combo, or string quartet, there is much joy and meaning to be found in sharing art.

Jean-Claude Risset (1938-2016) was one of the foremost pioneers of computer music, composing some of the very first works of computer-synthesized music. Trained both in physic and in music, he was a researcher at Bell Labs in the 1960s and head of the computer music department at IRCAM in the 1970s, later directing the Laboratory of Mechanics and Acoustics at the National Center for Scientific Research in Marseilles. His 1977 work Inharmonique, originally for soprano and tape, uses digitally synthesized inharmonic spectra to envelop the voice.

Anne Sèdes was born in 1964 in Paris. She is a professor of composition and research in the department of music at the University of Paris 8. She has developed her activities as composer in the experimental domain of creation as a way of learning by researching and teaching at the university. Since 1989 she has been exploring mixed music and mixed arts, and since 2000 especially the domain of sound spaces for dance. Her more recent work is écoute-expansion (2020-21), an interactive live electronic space for the French choreographer Kitsou Dubois. With Dominique Saint-Martin of INA/GRM she is the author of the MOOC la musique au-delà du numérique (2018-2020), an introduction to electroacoustic music by learning to compose it online. She hates to develop her digital identity. Come and meet her at the University of Paris 8 or at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord, of which she is the director.

João Svidzinski is a composer-researcher, computer music designer/performer and university pedagogue. In 2018, he obtained his doctorate at University of Paris 8. He is currently an associate researcher at CICM / MUSIDANSE EA 1572 and, since 2016, scientific coordinator of musical-scientific projects at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord. At the present time, he works in the production department at IRCAM.

Award-winning coloratura soprano Kirsten Ashley Wiest specializes in the creation, performance, and recording of contemporary classical vocal repertoire. She has given world premiere performances by numerous composers worldwide including Lei Liang (CN/US), Rand Steiger (US), James Erber (UK), Gérard Pape (FR), and Veronika Krausas (CA/US). She can be heard on premiere recordings on Sony Classical, Centaur Records, innova Recordings, MicroFest Records, and Albany Records. Kirsten holds a DMA in contemporary music performance from UC San Diego and is currently Lecturer in Music at CSU San Bernardino and San Bernardino Valley College.

 


 

Credits

Christopher Dobrian, producer/director
Steven Lewis, technical director
Chris Hadley, computer performance technician
Steven Lewis, video editor
Chris Hadley, Steven Lewis, and Christopher Dobrian, audio/video recording engineers
Colin Malloy, audio/video recording engineer for Fil de Soi 2
João Svidzinski, digital realization for Inharmonique

 


This page was last modified on April 28, 2021
by Christopher Dobrian, dobrian@uci.edu