Seung-Hye Kim performs New Music by UVA Composers

March 24, 2014 - 8:00pm

Old Cabell Hall

Free

Seung-Hye Kim performs new music composed by UVA composers.

Seung-Hye Kim is a composer and pianist whose interests include acoustic and electroacoustic music, musical gestures, and performative agency. Taking intensive training from an early age, she devoted herself to piano performance and her performing experience formed the foundation of her compositional style. She has performed traditional and contemporary repertoire at various concerts and important conferences such as Seoul International Computer Music Festival and Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival. She has received awards from the Korean Electro Acoustic Music Society Competition and the Italy Percussive Arts Society Competition. Her works have been performed at major conferences throughout the United States and abroad such as the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Listening In The Sound Kitchen, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, International Computer Music Conference, Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in US, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Electronic Music in Midwest, The 3rd Practice, SIGGRAPH festival, Florida Electro-Acoustic Student Festival, Women’s Electro-Acoustic Listening Room, Society of Composers Inc. National Conference and Bourges Synthese Festival. Her music can be heard on the SEAMUS label (vol. 16). She has participated in various collaborative multimedia projects including Accented Body at Queensland University of Technology. She received a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Florida, an MA in Electroacoustic music composition from the Korean National University of Arts, and a BA in Piano Performance from the Seoul National University. For more information, visit t www.kimtfirn.com.

The University of Virginia McIntire Department of Music presents pianist Seung-Hye Kim on Monday, March 24th, 2014 at 8pm in Old Cabell Hall. This free concert will premier piano works by UVa composers at the University of Virginia.

Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic Lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda. Parking is available in at the Central Grounds Parking Garage, or in the lots off University Avenue at the University Corner. Handicapped parking is available in the C1 parking lot or in designated spaces on McCormick Avenue.

For more information please call the McIntire Department of Music at 434.924.3052.

Composer Biographies:

Jon Bellona

Jon's work explores the musicality of data-driven instruments. Because data-mapping techniques may alter any pre-conceived notions about performer and performance, perceptions about instrumental cause and effect are not codified. Jon's approach is to develop expressive models for data-driven instruments and to dynamically create parametric support between sound elements, generating music that values narrative and form over exposition and the eccentric.

Jon's music and intermedia work have been shown internationally including KISS (Kyma International Sound Symposium); SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States); IMAC (Interactive Media Arts Conference); SLEO (Symposium on Laptop Ensembles and Orchestras); and FMO (Future Music Oregon) concerts.

Jon received his M.Mus. in Intermedia Music Technology from the University of Oregon, audio engineering degree from the Conservatory for Recording Arts & Sciences, and B.A. from Hamilton College. Jon is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Composition and Computer Technologies (CCT) at the University of Virginia and is part of the art collective, Harmonic Laboratory.

Youngman/Overholt by Jon Bellona
Year: 2014
Youngman/Overholt was written in honor of my grandmother, Betty Jane Youngman Overholt, who passed away in early 2013. BJ performed the accordion and piano from a young age and had perfect pitch. Although she become completely deaf the last 20 years of her life, she taught herself to read lips, and she could still play classic tunes on the piano perfectly from muscle memory. Sadly, because of her hearing, my grandmother never could listen to the music I wrote for her, even while alive. The electronics for Youngman / Overholt are based on a 2011 voice recording of BJ talking about her husband (my grandfather), David Overholt, while he was in the ICU several weeks before his death at age 90. They had been married for 68 years.

Kevin Davis

Kevin W. Davis is a composer, improviser, and cellist. Originally from Appalachian Tennessee, he has at various times been based out of Memphis, Chicago, New York, and Istanbul, where he has played in and composed for a large variety of musical situations across a wide spectrum of contemporary music. He has recorded and performed in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He has degrees in music composition from the University of Memphis (B. Music) and the Centre for Advanced Musical Studies (MIAM) in Istanbul, Turkey (MA). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia.

After many years of focusing his artistic practice on improvisation, Kevin has recently become re-engaged with more traditional forms of composition. His recent creative work deals with mediating the sometimes-problematic relationship between composition and improvisation by bringing differing types of structure into confrontation with the unstable properties present in motion, gesture, and sound.

Five Enactive Studies by Kevin Davis

Erik DeLuca

Making music and sound art of all sorts, that entangle algorithmic and intuitive modes of composing, excites me. A major element of my dissertation, "Field(art)works: Paths to Composing," is an ethnographic composition that explores a deep listening network between a biologist and community of wolf-listening park visitors. I've also been spending time slowing down/re-amplifying my chamber music, making sad songs with my baritone ukulele (tuned G, D, A, E), performing with the Charlottesville/Richmond band DEN, and collaborating with the Movement Party (a fabulous dance collective). I'm working on commissions for Andie Springer (violin), Todd Reynolds (violin), Madeleine Shapiro (cello), Kendra Emery (sax), Splinter Reeds (reed quintet), and Bearthoven (piano trio). I volunteer for both Sensate: A Journal for Experiments in Critical Media Practice and for The Bridge PAI in Charlottesville. I'm very happy to be a PhD candidate in the Music Department at UVa.

Six Days by Erik Deluca
Year: 2010 rev. 2013
The sonic fabric for Six Days counterpoints musical renderings of diurnal rhythms with hydrophonic and air field recordings that I made of glacial environments in Wrangell-St. Elias, Alaska. This piece has been donated to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park through their Artist-In-Residence program.

"The sun rises and falls everyday.
I forget about this sometimes."

Ryan Maguire

Ryan Maguire listens/writes to/for people/computers. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Composition and Computer Technologies at the University of Virginia under the aegis of the Virginia Center for Computer Music (VCCM). After completing an undergraduate degree in Physics and freelancing briefly in Milwaukee, Ryan earned postgraduate degrees at Dartmouth College and the New England Conservatory in Digital Musics and Composition, respectively.

He has studied with John Luther Adams, Larry Polansky, Michael Gandolfi, Robert Cogan, John King, Tara Rodgers, David Dunn, and David Cope, in addition to the faculty at the University of Virginia. His original works have been performed internationally by soloists and groups such as So Percussion, Calithumpian Consort, TILT Brass, and Ekmeles. He has presented music and research at SEAMUS, Subtropics, SICPP, Studio 300, NSEME, Park City Film Festival, USF New Music Festival, and elsewhere. His writing has been published by the International Conference on Information Science, Signal Processing, and their Applications, and his masters thesis is available through Dartmouth College.

A dedicated teacher, Ryan has been an instructor and teaching assistant at the University of Virginia, Dartmouth College, and New England Conservatory, and a tutor at the Boston Arts Academy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Beloit College. He has worked as a production assistant for the recording of John Luther Adams' Inuksuit on Cantaloupe Records, a composition assistant to Jon Appleton for A ultima vez, an archivist at the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, manager for the Junior Repertory Orchestra at the New England Conservatory Preperatory School, and as Assistant Recording Engineer at the Engine Room Studios in Milwaukee.

An active performer, Ryan plays the pedal steel, live electronics, hardware sequencer, electric fingerstyle guitar, and sings. He programs in Python, Java, LISP, MATLAB, and in the music environments Pure Data, Max/MSP, ChucK, and Open Music. He uses both Finale and LilyPond to create scores, Logic and Pro Tools to make records, and a soldering iron to build gizmos. His music and writing can be found online at ryanmaguiremusic.com. In the real world, you can usually find Ryan eating vegan food somewhere or hiking/biking/playing outside.

Felt by Ryan Maguire
Year: 2014

All of the musical material in Heard, for solo piano was derived from a field recording of a herd of cows during a summer thunderstorm. In early 2012, I was given a book and CD published by David Dunn, entitled "Why Do Whales and Children Sing?". The disc contained a collection of field recordings made by David and his friends. One, in particular, caught my ear. Set against the ambient backdrop of a passing summer thunderstorm was the plinking melody of cowbells, drifting slowly around the listener. I could almost smell the pasture.

Working in the recording studio, I took a section of this field recording and slowed it down to 1/32nd of its original speed, dropping the pitch two octaves as well. I then copied this and dropped the pitch of the copy another 2 octaves. Layering these two time-stretched recordings on top of one another, I used reverberation and selective filtering to bring out the overtones of the various bells. The result was a soundscape of shifting harmonies creating a subtle, fluid structure. This recording became the basis for the piece you hear today and a series of alternate re-imaginings of the same material, including an extended sound installation and a deeply saturated orchestration for large wind ensemble.

After creating a patch in Pure Data to automatically transcribe the pitch content of the new recording, I scanned the sound file by ear. The piano score was created by listening very carefully for steady pitches, checking it against what the computer had "heard", and notating what I believed to be a holistic representation. The result is a distillation of David's field recording and I hope captures something of its aura, in addition to the pitches and rhythms of that summer scene.

Maxwell Tfirn

Maxwell Tfirn is a second year PhD student at the University of Virginia, pursuing his degree in Composition and Computer Technology. He received a Masters degree from Wesleyan University in Music Composition and a Bachelors degree in Music Education as well as a performance certificate in percussion. He has had work performed at Society of Electro Acoustic Music United States (SEAMUS) , FIU FEAST Festival, 12 Nights Festival of Electronic Music and Art Series as well as the Subtropics Music festival, N_SEME (National Student Electronic Music Event), Electroacoustic Barn Dance, Technosonics Festival, and the South Central Music Consortium (SCGMC) . Recently Maxwell is exploring the use of creating music matrix's to synthesize new sounds. He has worked with Dr. Matthew Burtner, Anthony Braxton, Dr. Paula Matthusen and Ronald Kuivila and Dr. James Paul Sain.

Shifting Spaces by Maxwell Tfirn
Year: 2013
Shifting Spaces takes its idea from the definition of the word shifting; changing, especially unpredictably. The idea of shifting is applied to the composition to create unpredictable changes between contrasting pace and density of musical events. The use of complex rhythmic figures obscures the sense of meter and induces a different perception of temporality. In Shifting Spaces, space is seen as the time interval of each note and phrase. While the composition changes texture and density rapidly, the consistent use of major seconds, sixths and quintal chords provide the listener something to grasp on to.

Paul Turowski

Paul Turowski is a composer and performer from Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently a PhD student in Composition and Computer Technologies and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Virginia. Previously, he studied composition at Towson University and completed his masters in Intermedia Music Technology at the University of Oregon. His current academic focus is the philosophical and practical exploration of the space between video games and music performance, including the development of interactive notational systems. This involves research in areas such as computer science, network and mobile technologies, and the design of visual information.

Movement by Paul Turowski
Year: 2004
Originally written in the spring of 2004, these four short piano pieces are inspired by Stravinsky's etudes. Each one is based on a particular dance/style of movement (in order: tango, march, waltz, gigue). Minor revisions were made in the spring of 2014 in collaboration with Seung-Hye Kim.

Kristina Warren

Originally from the Midwest, composer and vocalist Kristina Warren holds a B.A. in Music Composition from Duke University, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Composition and Computer Technologies from UVa. Warren's research interests include voice, electronics, and questions of aleatory and performance practice in conjunction with various non-Eurocentric musics, such as folk music and Korean p'ansori. Warren's compositions have been performed across the US, and she has been fortunate to study composition with Judith Shatin, Anthony Kelley, Scott Lindroth, and John Supko.

Circles by Kristina Warren
Year: 2013
“Circles” tries to achieve a balance between strange, dissonant pitches and repetitive, meditative rhythms. Or in other words, melody is very important to the piece, but I think melody here is as much about time as about pitch. Many thanks to Seung-Hye Kim, Max Tfirn, and the McIntire Department of Music for making this concert possible.

Judith Shatin

To Keep the Dark Away by Judith Shatin
Year: 2010
To Keep the Dark Away was commissioned by Ms. Ellen Waldo for pianist Gayle Martin Henry, to whom it is dedicated. I previously composed both my piano concerto, The Passion of St. Cecilia, and the companion solo, Fantasy on St. Cecilia for Ms. Henry. To Keep the Dark Away is a set of five brief movements, whose piece and movement titles are drawn from five poems by Emily Dickinson, a favorite of the composer, pianist and commissioner. These include the following:

1.     #850 To Keep the Dark Away
2.     #326 A Glee Possesseth Me
3.     #686 An Actual Suffering Strengthens
4.     #1577 The Auroral Light
5.     #500 Whose Spokes a Dizzy Music Makes

Seung-Hye Kim

Junctions and Parallels by Seung-Hye Kim
Year: 2013
Junctions and Parallels employs an idea of two entities that coexist and interfere with one another. The two entities are represented with two different characters; one is percussive, agile and the other is stationary, reverberant by the use of the sostenuto pedal. The interesting relationship between the two sound groups is explored through the variety of gestures and articulations.

Department of Music

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