A light complimentary lunch will be served following the presentation.

Free parking available.

This event is produced by the Philadelphia Music Project, an Artistic Initiative funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, administered by The University of the Arts.

New Frontiers in Music: New Instruments

PHILADELPHIA MUSIC PROJECT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 10:30 am to 1:00 pmSettlement Music School, Field Auditorium416 Queen Street, Philadelphia

RSVP Deadline: Monday, March 13, 2006To RSVP for this event, please complete the accompanying form and return it by fax to 267 350 4998. RSVP is required.Question? Call Program Associate Alyssa Timin at 267 350 4960.

Technolog y has become increasingly available to composers, gaining significance as a means for enhancing artistic expression through the exploration of elec tronic sound. On March 21, PM P will convene composers, eng ineers, and performance artists Eric Singer, Laetitia Son-ami, Dan Trueman, and Dan O verholt, each of whom build or perform with new ins trument s. T h e p a n e l i s t s h a v e c r e a t e d o r i g i n a l i n v e n -tions, such as Sonami’s “lady’s glove,” a black Lyc ra evening g love “s t udded w i t h a my ri a d of sensors,” or Singer’s GuitarBot, as well as substantially modified traditional instruments, i n c l u d i n g O v e r h o l t ’s O v e r t o n e V i o l i n . T h e y have also formed ensembles dedicated to tech-nolog ic a l per f orm a nc e, inc luding Truem a n’s electronic improvisation ensemble, “interface,” and t he Prince t on L apt op Orches t ra (PLOrk). Together, the g roup will demonstrate some of their inventions and address their motivation and artistic goals – how does technolog y relate to traditional instruments and technique? What range of sonorit y and expression can electron-ics offer?

Dan Overholt is a composer, performer, and instrument builder based at University of California, Santa Barbara’s Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE). He designs electronic musical instruments and writes custom signal processing software for the real-time performance of his musical works. Dan has a BS in Computer Engineering and a BA in Music (violin performance) from California State University, Chico, and an MS from the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently pursuing an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Music Technology as well as teaching at UCSB. From 2003-2004 he was at the Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music (STEIM) in Amsterdam on a Fulbright scholarship, and he is currently on a National Science Foundation fellowship. His work includes the development of novel interfaces for electronic music such as the MATRIX, the Overtone Keyboard, the Overtone Violin, the Graphonic Interface, and the Sonic Scanner (see http://www.overtoneaudio.com/ for more information).

Dan Trueman plays and composes for a variety of violins, including the 6-string electric violin, the Nor-wegian Hardanger fiddle, and the Bowed-Sensor-Speaker-Array. His electronic improvisation ensemble

“interface” has performed widely and recently released a DVD of improvisations and dance pieces with guest Pauline Oliveros. His duo “Trollstilt” released its first CD of original tunes in 2000 and has per-formed internationally at both contemporary music festivals and folk music festivals. As a composer of concert music, Dan has completed commissions from the American Composers Forum (Hardanger fiddle and orchestra), the Society for New Music (electronic chamber ensemble), the Tarab Cello Ensemble (8 cellos), and most recently from the American Composers Orchestra, which premiered his piece Traps Relaxed, for strings, percussion and electric violin/laptop, at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in January 2005. He teaches composition and electronic music at Princeton University and is currently working on a piece for Zakir Hussain, So Percussion and the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk, which he co-founded with Perry Cook).

Eric Singer is a musician, artist, engineer and programmer, and the founder and director of LEMUR (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots). He holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon; a Diploma in Music Synthesis (Magna Cum Laude) from Berklee College of Music; and an MS in Computer Science from New York University. He has 20 years of arts and multimedia programming, engineering and performance experience in the areas of interactive performance systems, integrated music and graphics systems, alternative controller design, networked multimedia environments, in-terface design, artificial intelligence and computer controlled pyrotechnics. He performs and lectures throughout the U.S. and Europe and is known internationally for his software and hardware products for art and technology. In addition to directing LEMUR, he currently works as an independent Arts Engineer and Consultant and is the Technical Director of the Brooklyn arts collective The Madagascar Institute. (http://ericsinger.com)

Laetitia Sonami is an electronic composer, performer and sound installation artist who explores ways to translate objects and movements into sound, often incorporating one with the other. She uses interac-tive media to translate gesture and performance into an experimental aural narrative that explores the ever-shifting evolution of perspective. Best known for her lady’s glove, an evening black lycra glove studded with a myriad of sensors, she has performed worldwide and is based in Oakland, CA. She currently teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Milton Avery graduate school of the Arts at Bard College. (www.sonami.net)