Georgia Institute of Technology

Sonic Generator: The French-American Connection

Date: November 16, 2009

Time: 8:00 PM

Location: Georgia Tech Alumni House

Fee: none

Georgia Tech’s chamber music ensemble-in-residence, Sonic Generator, opens its 2009-2010 season with The French American Connection, exploring the connections between French and American musicians in their explorations of technology. Sponsored in part by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the concert is free and open to the public, and will be held at at the Georgia Tech Alumni House at 190 North Avenue on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 8 p.m.

The concert will feature works by celebrated composers Philip Glass, Pierre Jodlowski, Steve Reich, François Sarhan, Edgard Varèse and John Zorn.

It will open with Density 21.5 for unaccompanied flute by Edgard Varése. A composer who lived in both Paris and the United States, Varése spent much of his career exploring ideas for sound organization which have influenced electroacoustic music ever since.

John Zorn, a downtown New York musician, ponders the music of French impressionist Claude Debussy in his chamber work Orphee for flute, viola, harp, keyboard, percussion & live electronics (realized by Georgia Tech student Andrew Colella).

Philip Glass's pioneering work in American minimalism betrays the influence of his studies with the famous Parisian teacher Nadia Boulanger, as evidenced by Metamorphosis IV (arranged for cello and tape by Joan Jeanrenaud with visuals by Georgia Tech student Thomas Barnwell).

The program also includes music by a younger generation of French composers in Francois Sarhan’s Pirouette (for violin, bass clarinet, percussion & pre-recorded voice) and Pierre Jodlowski’s Collapsed (for soprano saxophone, percussion & electronics).

The concert ends with the Pulitzer-Prize winning work Double Sextet by American maverick Steve Reich. This performance of Double Sextet was made possible by special permission of eighth blackbird.

ABOUT SONIC GENERATOR
Sonic Generator explores the ways in which technology can transform how we create, perform and listen to music. The ensemble, comprised of some of the top classical musicians in Atlanta, works closely with Georgia Tech faculty in the GVU Center and the Center for Music Technology to present concerts that bring cutting-edge technologies to the world of contemporary classical music. Sonic Generator is sponsored by the GVU Center at Georgia Tech and organized in collaboration with the Center for Music Technology and the Music Department in the College of Architecture. These entities champion advancements in creativity, expression and human-computer interaction through research and education at Georgia Tech. For more information, visit www.sonicgenerator.gatech.edu.

For more information, contact Jason Freeman (Phone: 404-385-7257)

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