'Orbits' by MTI's Pete Batchelor & Mike Blow at Southbank Centre

'Orbits', a collaborative installation by MTI's Pete Batchelor and Mike Blow, was presented last week in the Clore Ballroom at the Southbank Centre. The piece was supported by the Philharmonia Orchestra and used recordings of some of the instrumentalists from the orchestra alongside NASA space sounds, played out of speakers on the end of these tilted spinning arms.

https://youtu.be/KU24Ys2s2mY

With thanks to Peter Eötvös, Jonathan Mayes, Juliette Reid, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Southbank Centre.


Convergence: Complexity and Simplicity - Call for submissions

Convergence: Complexity and Simplicity
An International Conference/Festival of Music, Technology and Ideas, Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 September 2019

Information on the Convergence Conference/Festival of Music, Technology and Ideas at De Montfort University, Leicester UK, is now online at:

www.dmu.ac.uk/convergence

Submissions can be made via the site. Deadline for submissions is 31 March.

The theme in 2019 is Complexity and Simplicity and a wide range of paper and music submissions is encouraged.

Convergence aims to bring together many of the diverse strands of music made with new technologies and to celebrate these alongside some traditional practices.  In 2019 we will also be working with the Darbar Fringe Festival to bring high quality traditional and experimental Indian music projects to the conference.

We are delighted that Curtis Roads will be our guest composer - thanks to the support of the US Embassy in London and the British Association of American Studies.

Hope to see you in Leicester!

Sat/Sun Jan. 26/27: Electroacoustic Music in Great Britain - Past/Present/Future

The weekend of January 26th & 27th, a very exciting two-day event will be held at the University of Greenwich, titled "Electroacoustic Music in Great Britain: Past/Present/Future".

Co-organised by BEAN (British ElectroAcoustic Network) and the School of Design of the University of Greenwich, the event celebrates the 40th anniversary of EMAS (the Electroacoustic Music Association of Great Britain), with a weekend of talks, concerts and discussions celebrating the achievements of Electroacoustic music in the UK, together with discussion of how best to move forward as a community.

MTI² will be well represented, with talks and concert works by Professors Simon Emmerson & Leigh Landy and graduates Dave Holland, Louise Rossiter & Andrew Hill, and with lecturer James Andean active as one of the organisers of the event.

In addition, a number of concerts across both days will also include works by Trevor Wishart, Denis Smalley, Jonty Harrison, Katharine Norman, Pete Stollery, Christian Eloy, Jo Thomas, Evelyn Ficarra, Rolf Gehlhaar, Aki Pasoulas, Andrew Lewis, Ambrose Seddon, Emma Margetson, Nikos Stavropoulos, and plenty more!

For more information and registration:
https://www.gre.ac.uk/ach/research/events/electroacoustic-music-event

MTI presents: Sweet Anticipation - new works by Landy, Young, Andean, Nance & Spowage

On Wednesday January 16th, MTI is proud to present our first concert of 2019, featuring the latest works by Leigh Landy, John Young, James Andean, Rick Nance & Neal Spowage. Including a world premiere, and several UK premieres!

The De Montfort University Music, Technology & Innovation 2018-19 concert series presents:

SWEET ANTICIPATION
Wednesday January 16th 2019, 7pm, PACE
https://www.facebook.com/events/363751747759376/

Join us for our first concert of 2019 - a very special evening, featuring some of the latest work from the MTI!
Come hear what our professors and lecturers have been up to...

Featuring new works by John Young, Leigh Landy, James Andean, Rick Nance and Neal Spowage.

PACE building, Richmond Street, Leicester UK, LE2 7BQ
Start time 7pm

Sonos Localia's 'Loudspeaker Music for Headphones'

2018 saw the official launch of the Sonos Localia project, with their first release 'Loudspeaker Music for Headphones, Volume One', featuring two works by MTI's James Andean:

http://sonoslocalia.com/sl001-details/

Sonos Localia is a new digital label, specialising in recording and distributing work created specifically to be heard in three-dimensional space. The project's first release, 'Loudspeaker Music for Headphones, Volume One', features 13 electroacoustic pieces which have been replayed live through a circular eight-channel loudspeaker array. Using a recording technique based around dummy-head microphones placed in the prime location at the centre of the array captures the full width, depth, movement and subtle localisation in the music. Listening to these recordings on stereo headphones, the full spatiality of the original work can be experienced as intended by the composer – normally only possible by attending a live performance and sitting at the centre of the auditorium. By recording as much spatial detail as possible, Sonos Localia brings the experience of attending a live loudspeaker concert to a much wider audience.

http://sonoslocalia.com/about/

'Loudspeaker Music for Headphones, Volume One' features two works by MTI's James Andean: 'Ainnurruvar II' (2013), and, in collaboration with ex-MTI student Visa Kuoppala, 'Pimeydestä Valoon' (2011). Also included are works by a wide range of significant UK-based acousmatic composers, including Aki Pasoulas, Ben Ramsay, Emma Margetson, Brona Martin, and MTI graduate Andrew Hill.

'Loudspeaker Music for Headphones, Volume One' is available from the Sonos Localia Bandcamp page:

https://sonoslocalia.bandcamp.com/album/loudspeaker-music-for-headphones-volume-one

MTI² on Czech Radio: Emmerson, Viel, Brunson & Holland

On Wednesday December 19th, rAdioCUSTICA, on Czech Radio, will present a full programme dedicated to MTI²:

https://www.rozhlas.cz/radiocustica/radioatelier/_zprava/banket-zvuku--1805573

Composers will include Simon Emmerson, Virginie Viel, Bill Brunson and Dave Holland.

Thursday Dec. 13th: Launch of IN SITU - European Sounds in Space!

Thursday December 13th will see the launch of IN SITU: European Sounds in Space - presenting 3 site-specific sound environments (commissions) that will take place at Leicester’s historic Magazine Gateway and at St. Nicholas Church (the oldest in Leicester) from the 13th to the 15th of December.

https://www.facebook.com/events/594039707695675/

Artists include liminal, composer & visual artist Kathy Hinde, and sound artist Joseph Young.

The event will open with artists' talks on on Thursday 13th December 2-3pm at De Montfort University's PACE building (Richmond Street), followed by a visit to the installations.

OPENING TIMES: 
Thursday 13 December: 3pm - 6pm
Friday 14 December: Noon - 6pm
Saturday 15 December: Noon - 5pm
LOCATIONS:
The Magazine, Vaughan Way, Leicester
St Nicholas Church, St Nicholas Walk, Leicester



ARTISTS:

Liminal is a partnership between architect Frances Crow and sound artist and composer David Prior. Their work focuses on exploring the relationship between sound, listening and the environment. For In Situ, liminal continues a longterm project in which they explore different aspects of bells and their relationship to culture. Here, they have worked with members of St Nicholas Church, Leicester, to explore the dual role bells have played in defining territory and interceding between humans and God.

Composer and visual artist Kathy Hinde has prepared a multi-channel piece using the Buddhist bell that hangs on the first floor of the Magazine.

Sound artist Joseph Young has been recording in the Battle of Bosworth field and is building an immersive sound journey from field recordings, spoken word and music, to be presented on the top floor of The Magazine.

BACKGROUND:

The activity is organised in the framework of the Interfaces Network, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.


'IN SITU' is a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)-led collaboration with IRCAM (Pompidou Centre, Paris), involving the creation of site-specific artistic environments celebrating special historic architecture, providing unique sonic experiences at historical locations.

The project aims to create an intrinsic relation between a physical place, building or location and a musical work for electronics or electronics and instruments.This project offers composers venues outside the traditional concert hall and the possibility of getting in touch with listeners outside the sphere of the traditional philharmonic milieu.

Some of the important issues for this project are: How does the music inhabit an architectural design? How do the sonic qualities of the work reveal the characteristics of a newly created or existing space? How does the social characterisation of space inform listening?

More than mere acoustics, architectural venues incorporate a wide range of historical, cultural, and even political messages. In an ideal pairing, the venue complements the performance and enhances the event for the benefit of the audience; likewise, an informed selection of repertoire can draw attention to the setting in which it is performed.

Within the whole duration of the Interfaces Network project, 6 historic and interesting architectural sites will resonate with contemporary music across Europe.