Marathon de violoncelles, eXcentris

On Saturday I went along to eXcentris, conceived of as a laboratory, to see a collaboration between Matt Haimovitz, Du Yun and the TML. Although I only found out fairly late on, due to problems with the TML mailing list, I was lucky enough to get a complimentary ticket. The music was different to anything else I’ve heard before (check out Matt’s website to listen) and was comprised of interwoven compositions and improvisations. The TML – more specifically Tim and Morgan, along with Michael – were involved in the production of real-time responsive visuals which were captivating. These visuals were projected onto a collection of special sheets, just to one side of the musicians (see the photo below). They have been on a mini-tour together so I was very pleased to see them in action! I’m now hoping to find out how they went about making the visuals and how they worked with Matt and Du Yun…

Matt Haimovitz with special guest, Du Yun
FIGMENT – works for solo cello, electronics and video

Matt Haimovitz’s new album and tour, FIGMENT is the latest evolution of the world-renowned cellist’s signature solo set, embracing the contemporary musical communities of his two home countries, Canada and the US.

Inspired by centenarian composer Elliott Carter and his two Figments for solo cello, the program brings together a wide range of important new music for solo cello and cello and electronics by leading and emerging North American composers. From the Middle Eastern microtones of Gilles Tremblay’s Cèdres en voile: Thrène pour le Liban, to Ana Sokolovic’s Balkan folk-influenced Vez, from Serge Provost’s cutting-edge Les Vertiges de S. for electronically-processed solo cello, to up and coming composer/songstress Du Yun’s San, a deconstruction of haunting ancient Chinese fragments. The program also includes music by Steven Stucky, Luna Pearl Woolf, and sample-artist Socalled.

Haimovitz will be joined by composer Du Yun on vocals, laptop, and keyboard to perform their original song, Miranda, and to improvise segues between the composed works, creating a seamless musical arc.

Haimovitz and Du Yun will be accompanied by real-time responsive visuals created by Timothy Sutton and Morgan Sutherland of the Topological Media Lab, Concordia University, Montreal.

Show-time, eXCentris

Laboratoire Art&D, SAT, Montreal

On Wednesday Christoph Brunner from the SenseLab invited me to go along with him to the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) to see the Telepresence project that he is involved with there. We met just outside the Art&D lab – no public access – and met with Mark who is working on the technical side of things. He showed us the contraption they have assembled (I’m not sure it has a name) and how it worked. Christoph is presenting a paper on the project in early December and is interested in the philosophical aspects of the device, how it might offer new ways of experiencing and interacting with the world. It’s very much a work-in-progress and although it is driven by practical concerns (for example: how might you be able to chat to someone and see more than just their face, how might you be able to collaborate differently on projects, how might conferences work if they weren’t limited to lecture theatres) but there is room to play with the settings to create novel situations or environments. The machine (see below) is large and can shut once you are inside. There are cameras filming you and videos move around as you move yourself. So, if you were talking to somebody, their video would follow you around and you wouldn’t have to worry about where you looked because there would be cameras able to film you from a variety of angles.

Telepresence project, SAT, Montreal

A day earlier, on Tuesday, there had been a ‘Show and tell’ session in the TML. Adrian Freed had been invited to talk about his work in experimental music. Adrian is part of the Center for New Music & Audio Technologies (CNMAT), which is based on IRCAM, where he used to work ¹. We heard about some of the projects Adrian had been involved in and he had many interesting things to say (including about music and space). He is currently playing with e-textiles as the flexibility of fabric offers him more freedom. Naveed and Laura presented some of their work as well (on ambisonics and magnetism respectively) and there was plenty of discussion afterwards. The rest of the week was fairly quiet and I spent most of my time in the lab, either reading (all sorts) or writing (in my diary, or on a series of short essays I hope will feed into my work).

Show and tell, TML

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