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April 7-9, 2005
University of Florida
Composer-in-Residence, Morton Subotnick
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Morton Subotnick is one of the United States' premier composers of electronic music and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive computer music systems. Most of his music calls for a computer part, or live electronic processing; his oeuvre utilizes many of the important technological breakthroughs in the history of the genre.
The work which brought Subotnick celebrity
was Silver Apples of the Moon. Written in 1967 using the Buchla
modular synthesizer (an electronic instrument built by Donald Buchla utilizing
suggestions from Subotnick and Ramon Sender), this work contains synthesized
tone colors striking for its day, and a control over pitch that many other
contemporary electronic composers had relinquished. There is a rich
counterpoint of gestures, in marked contrast to the simple surfaces of much
contemporary electronic music. There are sections marked by very clear
pulses, another unusual trait for its time; Silver Apples of the
Moon was commissioned by Nonesuch Records, marking the first time an
original large-scale composition had been created specifically for the disc
medium - a conscious acknowledgment that the home stereo system constituted
a present-day form of chamber music. Subotnick wrote this piece (and
subsequent record company commissions) in two parts to correspond to the
two sides of an LP. The exciting, exotic timbres and the dance inspiring
rhythms caught the ear of the public -- the record was an American bestseller
in the classical music category, an extremely unusual occurrence for any
contemporary concert music at the time. It has been re-released on
Wergo cd with The Wild Bull.
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The next eight years saw the production of
several more important compositions for LP, realized on the Buchla synthesizer:
The Wild Bull, Touch, Sidewinder and Four Butterflies
. All of these pieces are marked by sophisticated timbres, contrapuntal rich
textures, and sections of continuous pulse suggesting dance. In fact,
Silver Apples of the Moon was used as dance music by several
companies including the Stuttgart Ballet and Ballet Rambert and
The Wild Bull, A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur and The Key to Songs,
have been choreographed by leading dance companies throughout the world.
In 1975, fulfilling another record company
commission, (this time, Odyssey) Subotnick composed Until Spring ,
a work for solo synthesizer. In this work, changes in settings which
Subotnick made in real time on the synthesizer were stored as control voltages
on a separate tape, enabling him to duplicate any of his performance controls,
and to subsequently modify them if he felt the desire to do so. While
the use of control voltages was nothing new, it suggested to Subotnick a
means to gain exact control over real-time electronic processing equipment.
The next step in Subotnick's use of control
voltages was the development of the "ghost" box. This is a fairly simple
electronic device, consisting of a pitch and envelope follower for a live
signal, and the following voltage controlled units: an amplifier, a frequency
shifter, and a ring modulator. The control voltages for the ghost box
were originally stored on a tape, updated now to E-PROM. A performer,
whose miced signal is sent into the ghost box, can then be processed by playing
back the pre-recorded tape or E-PROM, containing the control voltages.
As neither the tape nor E-PROM produce sound, Subotnick refers to their sound
modification as a "ghost score". By providing the performer with
exact timings, co-ordination between performer and the ghost score is controlled.
Two Life Histories (1977) was
the first piece involving an electronic ghost score; the bulk of Subotnick's
output for the next six years was devoted to compositions involving performers
and ghost scores. Some of the more notable works in this series include
Liquid Strata (piano), Parallel Lines (piccolo accompanied
by nine players), The Wild Beasts (trombone and piano), Axolotl
(solo cello), The Last Dream of the Beast (solo voice) and
The Fluttering of Wings (string quartet). The subtlety,
sophistication and control over real-time electronic processing that Subotnick
demonstrated in these innovative works secured his reputation as one of the
world's most important electronic music composers.
Subotnick reached the apex of live electronic
processing in his work Ascent Into Air (1981). Written for the
powerful 4C computer at IRCAM, this piece involved many of the techniques
which Subotnick had developed in his ghost scores. In addition to the
processing normally available to him with his ghost boxes, Subotnick was
able to spatially locate sounds in a quadraphonic field and to modulate the
timbres of the instruments. But perhaps the most significant aspect
of this work is its use of live performers to control the computer music;
the live performers, in effect, serve as "control voltages" to influence where
a sound is placed, how it is modulated and by how much, etc. -- the reverse
situation of the ghost score compositions. Even more remarkable is
the ability of traditional musical instruments to control computer generated
sounds. The sophistication of this control is currently unavailable
using the commercial MIDI devices which many electronic musicians, including
Subotnick, favor today.
Since 1985, Subotnick has been using commercially
available MIDI gear in works such as The Key to Songs, Return
and "all my hummingbirds have alibis". His more recent pieces
are also marked not only by pulse driven rhythms, but also by clear diatonic
melodies and harmonies. >
In addition to music in the electronic medium,
Subotnick has written for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, theater and
multimedia productions. His "staged tone poem" The Double Life of
Amphibians, a collaboration with director Lee Breuer and visual artist
Irving Petlin, utilizing live interaction between singers, instrumentalists
and computer, was premiered at the 1984 Olympics Arts Festival in Los Angeles.
The concert version of Jacob's Room, a
mono drama commissioned by Betty Freeman for the Kronos Quartet and singer
Joan La Barbara, received its premiere in San Francisco in 1985. Jacob's
Room, Subotnick's multimedia opera (directed by Herbert Blau with video
imagery by Steina and Woody Vasulka, featuring Joan La Barbara), received
its premiere in Philadelphia in April 1993 under the auspices of The American
Music Theater Festival. The Key to Songs, for chamber orchestra
and computer, was premiered at the 1985 Aspen Music Festival. Return,
commissioned to celebrate the return of Haley's Comet, premiered with an
accompanying sky show in the planetarium of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles
in 1986. Subotnick's recent works -- among them Jacob's Room
, The Key to Songs, Hungers, In Two Worlds, And the
Butterflies Begin to Sing and A Desert Flowers --
utilize computerized sound generation, specially designed software Interactor
and "intelligent" computer controls which allow the performers to interact
with the computer technology.
Subotnick's recent works include:
3 CD ROMS; All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis (1994), Making Music (1996), Making
More Music (1998) and an interactive ‘Media Poem’, Intimate Immensity,
premiered at the Lincoln Center Festival in NY (1997). The European premiere
(1998) was in Karlsrhue, Germany. Echoes from the Silent Call of Girona
for string quartet and CD-ROM was premiered (1998) in Los Angeles by Southwest
Chamber Music.
In the Spring of 2001, Mode records released
a CD and DVD surround sound version of Touch, A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur and
a new work, Gestures: It Starts with Colors. He has been touring in
the US and Europe with live performances of the Gestures.
Currently, Subotnick holds the Mel Powell
Chair in Music at the California Institute of the Arts. He tours extensively
throughout the U.S. and Europe as a lecturer and composer/performer.
He is published by European American.
[bio by Christian Hertzog from Contemporary
Composers ]
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James Paul Sain, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER
Paul Koonce, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND CO-HOST
Samuel J. Hamm, Jr., ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR NATIONAL RELATIONS
Javier Alejandro Garavaglia, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Joo Won Park, GENERAL MANAGER
Chan Ji Kim, ASSISTANT MANAGER
Suk Jun Kim & Tim Reed, TECHNICAL CO-DIRECTORS
Michael Deall & Russell Brown, PROGRAM CO-COORDINATORS
Gina Wilson, ASSISTANT PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Yoojee Kim, REGISTRATION AND HOSPITALITY
Jong Chan Lee, AUXILLARY STAFF
Marc LoRang & Mark Quathamer, TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS
Shamus Jary McConney, LIGHTING DESIGN
Marc Shahboz, ART DIRECTOR
Rob Wert, GRAPHIC DESIGN
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Festival support is provided by the University of Florida School of Music, the Univeristy of Florida College of Fine Arts, and the University of Florida Office of Research and Graduate Programs. Special thanks to Dr. Charles Young, President, the University of Florida, Dr. John Duff, Director, the University of Florida School of Music, Dr. Donald McGlothlin, Dean, University of Florida College of Fine Arts, and Dr. Winfred Phillips, Dean, the University of Florida Office of Research and Graduate Programs and Vice President for Research.
Festival Rehearsal Schedule
These rehearsal times are preliminary and should be used for initial reference only.
Check here for a description of the performance sound system and speaker placement
Festival Schedule
The Florida Electroacoustic Music
Festival enters its 14th year of bringing together an international
rostrum of today's electroacoustic composers to present their
cutting-edge music. Past composers-in-residence have included world
renowned composers Hubert S. Howe, Jr., Cort Lippe, Gary Nelson, Jon
Appleton, Joel Chadabe, Larry Austin, Barry Truax, Richard Boulanger,
Paul Lansky, and James Dashow.
April 7, 2005
Concert I
Electroacoustic Music from FEMS
Suk Jun Kim, curator
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 10:00 a.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Invisible Vectors | Tim Reed |
Catchpenny | Russell Brown |
Taking a Picture of Taking a Picture | Patrick Pagano |
Awaiting | Chan Ji Kim |
Binge | Joo Won Park |
New Reactions | Sammel J. Hamm, Jr. |
What the Bird Saw | Suk Jun Kim |
Listening Session
Works of Morton Subotnick
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 12:00 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Works From The Composer's Oeuvre |
Concert II
Electroacoustic music from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
Mara Helmuth, curator
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Il Semforo Blu | Maria Martin |
Crumble | Kazuaki Shiota |
etude(...scapes) | Matthew Planchak |
Cassini Division | Margaret Schedel |
Interval |
Pure Dribble | Jennifer Bernard |
Scintillating Fish | Gabriel Ottoson-Deal |
Balladei | Christopher Bailey |
Tabula Rasa | Ivica Ico Bukvic |
The Edge of Noise | Mara Helmuth |
Concert III
Juried Concert A
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
GSOH | Simon Hall |
Liquid Gold | Kristine Burns |
Imaginary Cities | Neil Flory |
Separacion | Orlando Garcia |
Interval |
Musicometry I | Lawrence Fritts |
Punctuation | Isaac Schankler |
Hazeur's Curve | David Durant |
The Last Castrati | Ricardo Climent |
April 8, 2005
Concert IV
Juried Concert B
Friday, April 8, 2005, 10:00 a.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Fluctuation | Seung Hye Kim |
Drift | Edward Martin |
Wandering Around the City | Erdem Helvacioglu |
Didjeriduet | Eric Honour |
Interval |
Veritas ex Machina | Colby Leider |
Singularity | Mark Ballora |
Slowly Sinking Slower | Douglas Bielmeier |
Surging Waves2 | Shinichiro Toyoda |
...of one sinuous spreading... | Paula Matthusen |
Bologna | Paul Thomas |
Concert V
Electroacoustic Music from the University of North Texas Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia
Joseph Klein, curator
Friday, April 8, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Weathered Edges of Time | Jing Wang |
SYSTASIS | Dave Gedosh |
Three Poems of Alice Fulton | Joseph Klein |
L'Horloge imaginaire | Jon Christopher Nelson |
encounters.dce | Jonathan Anderson |
Kailas | Gabriel Lit |
Residual Images | Chapman Welch |
Concert VI
Juried Concert C
Friday, April 8, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Tableaux: Convolutioins on a Theme | Larry Austin |
Patterns of Organic Energy | Sylvia Pengilly |
Canon | Clifton Callender |
Dreaming of the Dawn | Adrian Moore |
Trajectories | Eric Lyon |
Music for Cello and Computer | Cort Lippe |
Interval |
Fractures | Ronald Keith Parks |
Nocturne/Doubles | Benjamin Broening |
(HO)2 C6H3 • CHOH • CH2 NHCH3 | William Kleinsasser |
Black Ice | Robert Dow |
Cigar Smoke | Robert Rowe |
April 9, 2005
Concert VII
Juried Concert D
Saturday, April 9, 2005, 10:00 a.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Valses and Etudes | David Kim-Boyle |
[insert time here] | Tohm Judson |
| Mike McFerron |
So Be It | Ragnar Grippe |
Interval |
In The Gloaming | Matthew McCabe |
Underground | Tom Lopez |
48 13 N 16 20 O | Tae Hong Park |
Luminocity | David Taddie |
Concert VIII
Electroacoustic Music from Europe
Javier Garavaglia, curator
Saturday, April 9, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Angorum catena | Magdalena Buchwald (Poland) |
Sonorous Landscapes I & II | Luís Antunes Pena (Portugal) |
L'apparizione di tre rughe | Roberto Doati (Italy) |
Feuer-Werk 17 | Thomas Gerwin (Germany) |
...in the opposite direction... | Krzysztof Knittel (Poland) |
Summer Grasses | Hiromi Ishii (Japan/Germany) |
Concert IX
Juried Concert E
Saturday, April 9, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts Black Box Theater
Moving Into the Light | Richard Boulanger |
Serendipities and Synchronicities | Pete Stollery |
Crack Hammer | Zack Browning |
Adolescent Aulos | Paul Koonce |
Hoquetus | Javier Garavaglia |
Interval |
ball peen hammer | James Paul Sain |
Archimedes: Mathematics II | James Dashow |
Harmonic Fantasy | Hubert S. Howe, Jr. |
Until Spring Revisited | Morton Subotnick |
Additional Events
Convocation Lecture/Recital
Presentation by Composer-In-Residence, Morton Subotnick
Friday, April 8, 2005, 12:50 p.m.
University of Florida Music Department, Room 120
Reception/Demonstration Digital Worlds Institute
The above schedule is not in final concert order; this program is subject to change without prior notification.
Rehearsal schedule will be set based on information contained on the returned confirmation and festival registration forms.
Official Hotel Reservations:
University of Florida Hotel and Conference Center
1714 S.W. 34th St.
Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 371-3600 voice
(352) 371-0306 fax
NOTE: mention that you're with the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival for the festival rate: King $99/Double-Double $99 (plus 6.25% sales tax and 3% occupancy tax).
Cut off date for reservation: March 4, 2005
(after this date, reservation and special rate will not be honored)
For more information the University of Florida Hotel and Conference Center point your browser to their home page at:
Festival Registration Forms:
A downloadable version of the FEMF14 Registration Form will soon be available at:
Cut off date for pre-payment rate: March 7, 2005 (receipt)
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