NOA EVEN – ATOMIC
Thursday, September 12 at 7:30 PM
Dalton Recital Hall
At a time when our society is particularly fragmented and politically polarized, Cleveland-based saxophonist and Kent State faculty Noa Even explores themes of human connection with "atomic," a commissioning project of four new works for solo saxophone, interactive electronics, and video. The impetus behind "atomic" is the idea that finding or cultivating common ground with individuals from diverse backgrounds leads us toward greater awareness, understanding, and empathy. We get to choose. We can choose to self-examine our own behavior, establish connections with strangers, and develop stronger relationships with those around us. In close collaboration with Noa, the composers and video artists of atomic focus on the following topics: the long-lasting affects of human interactions, the increasingly visible and thriving transgender community in the United States, silenced voices resulting from stricter American immigration laws, and regret, a universal human emotion.
Imprints in Time, video and audio by christopher biggs (2019)
Imprints in Time for alto saxophone, thunder tube, and computer was written for and is dedicated to a consortium of saxophonists consisting of Noa Even, Drew Whiting, Zach Shemon, Henning Schröder, and Justin Massey. The work abstractly reflects on how people are connected through their interactions.
The title comes from an article by Michael Tze-Sung Longnecker that posits that we can think of objects as creating a curve in time, just as objects curve space, and he refers to these curves as imprints in time. I imagined personal interactions as having an analogous mass-energy to objects and that interactions imprint on our personal histories similar to how objects bend space and possibly time. The audio consists of three, interactive sonic layers – the saxophone, live processing of the saxophone, and fixed media files. The visuals for the work are generated in real time: the energy in the low, mid, and high frequency regions of the three audio layers is extracted and mapped to control the parameters of visual events.
bodies immutable by lj white with programming and video by jason charney
bodies immutable is inspired by the increasingly visible and thriving transgender community in the US, and the fact of our visibility made possible by our support of each other and the support we receive from allies.
The piece’s musical concept reflects this proliferation of transgender existence and the ways in which the presence of one trans person allows for others to live openly and authentically. It is built from long tones on the saxophone that can be understood to represent trans individuals. Each tone played by the saxophone becomes part of the ongoing fabric of the piece, and the instrument, whose initial gestures are sparse and isolated, becomes part of an extended, self-sustaining, interactive chorus that, later, acts as a support system for a more varied and indeterminate saxophone vocabulary, and, by the end, moves into territory that the single acoustic instrument cannot traverse on its own. In the interactive video component by Jason Charney, colored forms emerge, at first as disembodied forms that coalesce into human figures. A single dancer is soon joined by others of different colors, representing the exponential presence of trans people living authentic lives in plain sight. While the video includes interpretations of the piece by cisgender, transgender, and non-binary movement artists, their colorful and anonymous forms highlight the solidarity and universal experiences of people across the gender spectrum.
Transgender people in our country are currently facing unprecedented backlash, requiring us to be especially vigilant in the upkeep of our support network. However, we now exist, emboldened, in numbers, and we will ensure our collective ability to be seen and to survive. I wish for this piece to function as a form of acknowledgment of my community. It’s a way of saying to other trans people, including those who are struggling: I see you. I’m here for you. I’m here because you’re here, and you’re here because I’m here, and we exist on account of the tenacity of our predecessors, and others will exist because of us, and we are creating a world in which we can take up space, be recognized, and be free.
b(locked.orders) by Emily koh, video by Michiko Saiki
Executive Order 13769 of early 2017, more commonly known as the travel ban, affected thousands of American immigrants. b(locked.orders) sonifies the stifled voices of immigrants in their adopted countries, as well as silenced minorities within their home countries.
The video takes place in an artificial world where two societies co-exist. As a curious observer, the protagonist enjoys praising or ridiculing the other society, but she seems to never question her own wrongdoings. This piece serves as a reminder that through consistent self-awareness and reflection, each of us can choose to truly connect with one another through curiosity, openness, empathy and compassion.
Do I Regret? by José Martínez, video by Michael Bruner
This piece pursues the impossibility of reliving the past, of traveling back in time to change one's path. During improvised sections of the piece, the saxophonist creates "memories" that are recorded, and later return to accompany the written music. The interactive video responds directly to the performer's improvisations throughout the piece and its content derives from personal memories collected by the performer. The incorporation of improvisation as a fundamental part of the piece, makes each performance fresh and unique.
At the end of the piece, the saxophonist revisits their memories in a utopian attempt to change the past, sonically manipulating the samples recorded during the performance. Do I Regret? highlights the universality of regret, an emotion that affects our behavior and relationships.
Noa Even is a versatile saxophonist whose work as a performer, educator, and presenter is guided by her dedication to the arts of today. In addition to creating new work through commissioning and close collaboration with living composers, she interprets traditional classical repertoire and improvises.
Atomic, Noa’s current long-term commissioning project, features solo works for saxophone, interactive electronics, and video that explore themes of human connection. She is premiering the program in September 2019 and sharing it with audiences across North America. Performances include a university tour through Michigan, the Colombian Composer Collective Residency on the Stack Overflow series (Austin, TX), Off the Beaten Path Concert Series (University of the District of Columbia), New Music Edmonton’s 35th Concert Season (Alberta, Canada), and a visit to the University of Georgia as a 2019-2020 Willson Center Distinguished Artist.
Noa’s saxophone duo, Ogni Suono, has toured Asia, Europe, and North America since their formation in 2009. Most recently, they traveled to Taiwan and China to perform commissioned works and teach as guest clinicians. Much of the music Ogni Suono has commissioned can be found on their albums, Invisible Seams (Teal Creek, 2014) and SaxoVoce (New Focus Recordings, 2018). In 2013, Noa formed Patchwork, a saxophone and drum set duo that continues to build an eclectic body of work for their unique instrumentation. Reflecting a vast range of styles and influences, their music requires versatility and a willingness to experiment. They recently recorded their debut album, which will be released in May 2020. Both Ogni Suono and Patchwork often pair university performances with master classes, student composers reading sessions, and discussions on entrepreneurship in the arts. Noa has also performed with Alia Musica Pittsburgh and Cleveland-based No Exit New Music Ensemble.
Recent performances as an improvisor include the YARDS Project’s CINE-EX, an evening of experimental film and modern dance with music by Noa’s trio, We Three Qings. Noa performed a solo improvisation for Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra Lab Group’s spring concert in 2019 and joined the students for a group improvisation. She has also teamed up with flutist Anne La Berge for improvised sets on their joint concerts in Northeast Ohio.
Noa won third place in the 2011 Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition in Bangkok, where she performed as a soloist with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed concerti with the Bowling Green Philharmonia and the Concert Orchestra of the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. In February 2020, she will be premiering a new concerto by Adam Roberts commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shooting with the Kent Wind Ensemble.
In 2017, Noa co-founded Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP), a non-profit organization that champions new and experimental music by curating a year-round concert series, presenting Re:Sound, an annual festival, and organizing professional opportunities for young composers. She recently helped establish the Committee on the Status of Women in the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) and initiated a mentorship program for female saxophonists. Noa was also a panelist at the Kent State College of the Arts Career Conference in 2018 and has served on the editorial board for the Saxophone Symposium Journal since 2014.
Noa is Assistant Professor at Kent State University where she teaches saxophone, co-directs New Music Ensemble, and coordinates the Vanguard New Music Guest Artist Series. She holds a DMA in contemporary music from Bowling Green State University, a master’s degree in performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s in performance and music education from Northwestern University. Additional studies include the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt outside of Paris, where she studied with Jean-Michel Goury. Her other primary instructors include John Sampen, Debra Richtmeyer, and Fred Hemke.
Noa is a Conn-Selmer Endorsing Artist and on the Vandoren Artist Roster.
Christopher Biggs is a composer and multimedia artist residing in Kalamazoo, MI, where he is Associate Professor of Music Composition and Technology at Western Michigan University. Biggs’ recent projects focus on integrating live instrumental performance with interactive audiovisual media. Biggs is a co-founder and the director of SPLICE Institute, which is a weeklong intensive summer program for performers and composers to experience, explore, create, discuss, and learn techniques related to music for instruments and electronics. SPLICE takes place each June in Kalamazoo, MI. Biggs teaches acoustic and electronic music composition, electronic music production, digital signal processing, visual programming, and music theory.
Michael Bruner is an Interactive designer and developer with a focus on creating immersive experiences. He is pursuing a M.F.A in Design and Technology for live performance from the University of Texas. His work is focused on how emerging technology can be integrated into natural spaces to create meaningful experiences that connect us with our environment.
Jason Charney is a composer and sound artist in Baltimore, Maryland. He writes music for instruments and electronic media, and is also an active electroacoustic performer. As an artist, Jason creates multimedia works which use sound, light, and sculpture to explore the unreliable translations among humans in digitally-mediated systems. Jason holds degrees in music theory and composition from the University of Kansas and Bowling Green State University, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the Technical Director of Mind on Fire, a contemporary chamber orchestra based in Baltimore.
Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer based in Atlanta, whose music is characterized by inventive explorations of the smallest details of sound. In addition to writing acoustic and electronic concert music, she enjoys collaborating with other creatives in projects where sound plays an important role in the creative process. Emily is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
José Martínez’ music incorporates a wide range of influences from Colombian folk tunes to contemporary composition techniques, while borrowing from Latin music, heavy metal, and audio sampling techniques. His main musical interest is the idiosyncratic synthesis of timbral examination, Latin American vernacular music, sociopolitics, and technology. He has written for ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Spanish ensemble Taller Sonoro, LA-based chamber group Wild Up, Grammy award-winning quartet Third Coast Percussion, American piano duet Hockett, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others. An alumni of the National University of Colombia as both a percussionist and a composer, he pursued an MM in composition at the University of Missouri, and is currently a DMA candidate in composition at UT Austin.
Michiko Saiki is a Japanese pianist and multimedia artist. During her years in the US, she has expanded her interests into performance art and media art while pursuing a career as a contemporary music specialist. Many of her video works have been screened at international film festivals in France, Belgium, Australia and the US. She currently resides in Germany and maintains an international career as a pianist. Her works and recordings are available here: michikosaiki.wordpress.com.
LJ White’s music serves ideals of direct, focused and socially relevant expression, assimilating
an unrestricted array of influences through strange and evocative sonorities and rhythms, concise gestures, and apposite forms. He has worked with some of the most exciting performers in new music, including Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble SIGNAL, Ensemble Dal Niente, the JACK Quartet, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Third Angle Ensemble, Third Coast Percussion, Volti, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, the Talea Ensemble, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. White’s recent and upcoming projects include new works for the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra under Steven Schick, the Spektral Quartet, Chamber Project St. Louis, the Breckenridge Music Festival, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Music NOW series. White lives in St. Louis and teaches composition and music theory at Washington University.