Music You Can Feel</h1> <article> <h1>Music You Can Feel</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:02:52 +0000</p> <span>Music You Can Feel</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:02:52-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:02">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><i>This profile is one in a series focusing on the careers of conservatory students after �鶹��Ƶ. For more "After �鶹��Ƶ" stories, visit the <a href="/news">News Center</a>.</i></p> <p>“Things made of sound usually can’t be touched,” says Ashley Fure ’04. “But I’m greedy as an artist. I want to provoke more senses than just hearing.”</p> <p>Fure creates visceral, almost tactile music for the concert hall and for multimedia installations, collaborating not only with top new music groups such as Ensemble Dal Niente and the Arditti Quartet, but also with visual artists, choreographers, and architects.</p> <p>In 2014, Fure was awarded the Kranichstein Music Prize—one of the most significant awards for young composers—for her septet <i>Something to Hunt</i>, a masterful and frightening rendering of a predator’s insatiable drive for prey.</p> <p>“Incorporating sight, touch, and space into my sonic practice has brought me into close contact with artists from other disciplines,” she says. “I find those acts of translation and collaboration inevitably challenging and inevitably fruitful.”</p> <p>Also in 2014, while on a Fulbright Fellowship in France, Fure explored the translation of music into movement and vice versa in a collaboration with choreographer Yuval Pick. Their hour-long electroacoustic ballet <i>Ply</i> was commissioned by the renowned Parisian school IRCAM, where Fure studied for two years.</p> <p>While in her second year there in 2011, she created <i>Tripwire</i>, her first multimedia collaboration, with visual artist Jean-Michel Albert. She describes the project as “massive kinetic sculpture made of spinning strings, moving light, and spatialized sound. It explores the phenomenon of vibration through multiple media, weaving moving sound, light, and rippling elastic into vibrant, synesthetic gestures.”</p> <p>Such “synesthetic gestures” are also an integral part of Fure’s 2012 piece <i>Veer</i>, in which participants move through an architectural installation designed by her brother, Adam Fure, setting off speakers and LEDs with their motion.</p> <p>Fure is now collaborating with Adam again, along with London-based director Patrick Eakin Young, on an upcoming “electroacoustic object opera.” Commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble, it will premiere at Darmstadt in 2016.</p> <p>“We want to make a music drama that explores the hidden lives of objects devoid of human gaze,” Fure says. “In place of human characters, a cast of custom-built objects will transform throughout the piece via sound, lighting, and kinetic effects, presenting themselves as characters with their own stories to tell.</p> <p>Fure’s forays into sonic “acts of translation” qualify her for her recent appointment as assistant professor of sonic arts at Dartmouth College. She will take up that position in the fall, after finishing a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia. (She completed a PhD in composition under Chaya Czernowin at Harvard University in 2013.)</p> <p>“In addition to its Master’s Program in Digital Music, Dartmouth has just created a pathway for undergraduate music majors focused on music since electricity,” she explains. “I was hired to help shepherd in this new sonic arts curriculum.”</p> <p>Fure’s first teaching experience came at �鶹��Ƶ, where she spent the spring of 2012 as a visiting professor of composition.</p> <p>“It was very invigorating and intellectually satisfying,” she recalls. “It was the first time I had really designed my own syllabus, as I was asked to teach a seminar and was essentially given free rein. The students are top-notch, they’re bright, they’re inquisitive.”</p> <p>Those exceptional students are one of the aspects of �鶹��Ƶ that she most enjoyed in her undergraduate years. “We always joked about the 'new music mafia'—that clan of virtuosic players all running around performing the most challenging contemporary music. Getting to be a part of that culture and getting to experiment with these amazing players who were also friends was a deeply formative experience.”</p> <p>She also emphasizes the integral role played by her teachers. “I had a very close and productive relationship with [Professor of Composition] Lewis Nielson, who was my private teacher for most of my time at �鶹��Ƶ. His confidence in me, his insight, and his broad knowledge of the field in both America and Europe really opened my eyes and ears to all sorts of possibilities.</p> <p>“Composition at �鶹��Ƶ is unusual in its appetite for the experimental and avant-garde. My ears were really unbounded there.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-04-20T12:00:00Z">Mon, 04/20/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Daniel Hautzinger</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2974">Conservatory Alumni</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">As a student at �鶹��Ƶ, Ashley Fure felt at home amid the conservatory culture she affectionately calls the "new music mafia."</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>TIMARA Asks: What Can You Do? This Weekend, Just About Anything</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:03:18 +0000</p> <span>TIMARA Asks: What Can You Do? This Weekend, Just About Anything</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:03:18-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:03">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>If a stranger should ask you <i>What can you do?</i> this weekend, do not be alarmed—it’s not a challenge, it’s art.</p> <p>Created by Brenda Hutchinson, the performance piece—appropriately titled <i>What Can You Do?</i>—is one of many performances curated by conservatory faculty member <a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/conservatory/faculty/faculty-detail.dot?id=4381187">Lyn Goeringer</a> as part of Playfest �鶹��Ƶ 2015, a March 13-14 symposium about the sometimes-lost art of play.</p> <p>“There’s a lot to be said in play,” explains Goeringer, a visiting assistant professor of computer music and digital arts in �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="http://www.timara.oberlin.edu/">TIMARA department</a>, the event’s sponsor. “For children, it’s a way of learning and exploring. It’s fun and dangerous. With adults, we forget that play is an important part of learning and experiencing the world.” </p> <p>Hutchinson’s piece, for example, presents a means to inject play into the lives of unassuming passersby. “<i>What Can You Do?</i>” <a href="http://www.sonicportraits.org/">she writes on her website</a>, “is a celebration and reclamation of the public space through direct interaction among strangers presented as a series of encounters ranging from direct engagement through electronically mediated experience.” </p> <p>And how might that be exemplified? Any number of ways: It could be some sort of genetic gift (say, unusual double-jointedness) or perhaps something learned along life’s path (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/whatcanyoudo2012">how to deliver an effective soccer—or hockey—check</a>). It’s not about talent, Hutchinson stresses: It’s about learning something new or witnessing and documenting the encounter.</p> <p><i>What Can You Do?</i> takes place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 14, at the �鶹��Ƶ Public Library. Like all Playfest events, it is free and open to all ages. </p> <p><b>The full Playfest schedule is as follows:</b></p> <p><b>3 p.m. Friday, March 13:</b> Talk featuring multimedia artist <a href="http://brianhouse.net/">Brian House</a>, who teaches in the Digital + Media program at the Rhode Island School of Art and Design. (TIMARA Studio 2, basement level of Bibbins Hall)</p> <p><b>4 p.m. Friday, March 13:</b> Artist talk and workshop with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/crudface">Jordan Bartee ’07</a>, whose work—in his own words—encompasses “audiovisual art, object-oriented ontology, game (re)design, experimental electronics engineering,” and “techno-archaeology.” (TIMARA Studio 2)</p> <p><b>8 p.m. Friday, March 13:</b> Concert in Warner Concert Hall featuring TIMARA faculty member Tom Lopez and Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Holly Handman-Lopez performing a collaborative work for large metal tub and electronic music, a pair of fixed-media works that invoke a playful sense of music and sonic engagement, and a dance trio.</p> <p><b>10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 14:</b> Brenda Hutchinson’s What Can You Do? at �鶹��Ƶ Public Library.</p> <p><b>3 p.m. Saturday, March 14:</b> Video screening in Dye Lecture Hall (Science Center) featuring short videos that incorporate play and synesthesia (the neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense leads to involuntary stimulation of another sense).</p> <p><b>6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14:</b> Concert in Fairchild Chapel (Bosworth Hall) featuring objects that have been detourned—that is, used for a purpose other than their original function (think small things making big sounds, or music being created from everyday objects).</p> <p>Despite the disparate themes covered, it all comes back to <i>play</i>, says Goeringer.</p> <p>“Play becomes a way in which we subvert power structures. That’s where my personal interest in play lies. It’s a theme that’s been bouncing around a lot lately in academic circles; there have been a lot of different conferences around the country about play.</p> <p>“It’s important to keep sight on the enjoyable parts of academia as well. We can all benefit from some enjoyment!”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2015-03-11T12:00:00Z">Wed, 03/11/2015 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Michael Stenovec</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Composer and artist Peter Bussigel specializes in "unpredictable sound systems." He is one of many guests taking part in Playfest 2015 activities.<br> <br> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Peter Bussigel</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Putting It All Together: Charlie Abbott '15 Blends Two Majors & More</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:03:18 +0000</p> <span>Putting It All Together: Charlie Abbott '15 Blends Two Majors & More</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2016-11-07T13:03:18-05:00" title="Monday, November 7, 2016 - 13:03">Mon, 11/07/2016 - 13:03</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Charlie Abbott ’15 had played violin ever since he was three, but the first time he broke away from traditional music conventions was in his high school band, the Big Trucks.</p> <p>“There was a ridiculous law firm commercial we saw on TV once, so we called the phone number they showed and recorded their phone extension directory—30 minutes of people saying their name slowly and annoyed, followed by whatever their phone extension number was—and made a song out of our favorite bits.</p> <p>"I fell in love with that process and the idea of contextualizing sounds we hear all the time in a way that conveys emotions," says Abbott, a senior from Concord, Massachusetts.</p> <p>Abbott’s passion for atypical musical styles led him to enroll in �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/conservatory/departments/TIMARA/">Technology in Music and Related Arts</a> program. “TIMARA was the only place I found where I could really pursue that in an academic setting," he says.</p> <p>Abbott is one of about 180 students in the double-degree program at �鶹��Ƶ: Along with his TIMARA major in the conservatory, he is pursuing a degree in cinema studies with a minor in East Asian studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Though these disciplines may seem divergent, Abbott manages to blend them both inside and outside the classroom.</p> <p></p> <p>“The holistic approach that the double-degree program and the TIMARA, cinema studies, and East Asian studies departments offer is really unique,” he says. “For example, in my private reading, I’m doing all sorts of research on the cultural and historical aspects of different Japanese music and arts movements. My training in the conservatory gives me the tools and academic setting to analyze music and relate it to other music. My cinema studies major gives me the tools and academic setting to analyze and compare film and video art. And my East Asian studies minor lets me put all this into a specific cultural context.”</p> <p>Over spring break 2014, Abbott conducted an independent study in Japan, where he researched, filmed, and participated in the underground electronic music scene—a true synthesis of his academic interests. During his time there, he traded three-hour visual projection sets at a music festival with a Japanese visual artist, opened for the artist Goth-Trad, and filmed 48 hours of concerts, interviews, and B-roll footage.</p> <p>Outside the classroom, Abbott creates visual accompaniment for musical acts through Real Boy Digital, the company he co-founded with composition major Myles Emmons and fellow double-degree student <a href="/news/now-you-hear-him-devin-frenze-15-explores-limits-human-ears">Devin Frenze</a>.</p> <p>Abbott put his audiovisual training into practice for his own junior recital.</p> <p>“<a href="https://ryvryvryv.bandcamp.com/">This recital</a> was a combination of the music and visual art that I had worked on over the course of the semester,” he says. “My partner stood on either side of the big projection screen in Stull Hall and tried to make it a fun, accessible environment for some harsh noise and geometric visual accompaniment. In my preparation for my recital, I figured out some of the fun aspects of working with the speaker system and my music. For instance, I learned how to perform my music so it makes the subwoofer rattle the ceiling and use the speakers so it sounds like some of the music is super-close to you.”</p> <p>“I tried to use short, four-bar loops, with really off-kilter percussive material—taking influence from two Japanese hip-hop artists, Youtaro and Repeat Pattern—and develop the rest of the space by stitching together recordings of various familiar spaces, like recordings of my basement in a strong rainstorm on top of recordings from inside the dorm I was living in in Japan during a typhoon.</p> <p>“Next year," he adds, "I'm really looking for ways to get back to Japan, so I can keep on working with all of these artists and people that have influenced me so much."</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Releases</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2014-12-03T12:00:00Z">Wed, 12/03/2014 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Michael Stenovec</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2357">Double Degree Program</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25256">Cinema and Media</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25336">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/cinema-studies" hreflang="und">Cinema and Media</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/east-asian-studies" hreflang="und">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Zachary Christy</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>