This past week (November 16th) my Colleague Dr. Cowden and myself gave a lecture recital on my work SlipStreamScapes V: Lullaby at the National College Music Society conference in Salt Lake City (which also happened to be 50th anniversary). The conference was very well organized and had a program full of fun and engaging presentations. There was also a considerable number of VT faculty and CCM alumni present. As a result I stumbled across acquaintances, friends, and Colleagues I did not see since 1999.
 
Below is the lecture abstract:
 
Complementing Traditional Performance Idiom with Contemporary Technology—A Study of SlipStreamScapes V: Lullaby Interactive Electroacoustic Piece for Two Pianos and Interactive Computer
Unlike most of the historical advancements in technology relevant to music and musical expression, the advent of computers has caused an unprecedented break from traditional performance practices. In part due to computer’s inherently modular design and subsequent inability to ensure standardization of associated performance practices, the ostensible incompatibility between the tradition-rich performance space (concert hall) and the new form of musical expression continues to be one of the dominant struggles of contemporary artists, performers, and audiences alike. By relying upon the historically dominant complementing symbiotic model in which the traditional Western performance practice and instrumentation is coupled with the new technology, the proposed lecture recital aims to offer a different angle at tackling this important predicament. SlipStreamScapes V: Lullaby, a work for two pianos and an interactive computer, is a performance-based surreal painting of timbres and structures which thrives upon the synergy between the two media. By utilizing the power of traditional performance forces and their ability to efficiently utilize traditional performance spaces, in conjunction with the unprecedented timbral potential and impartiality of the computer technology, this work and subsequently its performance are designed to marry the best of both worlds without having to sacrifice or polarize their unique traits and advantages. In part due to an unusually opportune set of circumstances coupled by the aforesaid synergy, this lecture is to offer a multifaceted study of the work, its performance, as well as its impact from composer, collaborator, performer, and audience perspectives.
 
Dr. Cowden and I also had an exciting outreach proposal to go out into local schools to do a similar lecture that focuses on pairing contemporary technology with traditional instruments which was accepted to the conference but unfortunately was not programmed in time due to a last-minute change in administrative staffing.