November 9, 2018
Doors at 7:30. Music at 8.
In the second concert from the Oscillations series, KG Price will create new polyphonic compositions using turntables. In the second set, Riley Leitch and Kelley Sheehan present their evolving project zP42, a site specific improvisation utilizing max msp.
OSCILLATIONS presents concerts by artists selected from submissions received in response to an open call for proposals.
KG PRICE’s turntable project utilizes three turntables, DJ mixer with effects, and an RC-20 loop station to create new polyphonic compositions based on primarily monophonic recordings. When polyphonic records are introduced, the total number of records and/or loops being played is diminished so as not to oversaturate the sound and destroy independence of voice. This independence of voice is analogous with the classical format of Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass (SATB) or the string quartet set-up of cello, viola, violin 1 and violin 2, in the sense that each voice maintains its registral independence while creating a grand, full-spectrum shape. Records may be manipulated via record-splicing, off- center spindle holes, prepared skips, and broken record layering. These manipulations are applied to a grouping of samples that is diverse in source and therefore freshly re-contextualized: some of the raw material are sound-effect and Morse code records; some are ethnomusicology recordings; some are recent recordings of Chicago-based experimental musicians; and Berio's ''Sequenza'' is, of course, a classic 20-century piece.
zP42 is a collaborative project between KELLEY SHEEHAN and trombonist RILEY LEITCH. It is intended to perpetually grow and morph with extreme documentation to illustrate each new version of itself. In their Oscillations performance Kelley and Riley build upon previous presentations with an emphasis on no-input mixing, noised based improvisation with two matrix mixers, and one source video. This standalone version will last approximately anywhere between 12-25 minutes in length for performance as max msp is programmed to intentionally randomize the length, letting each performance be different from the last. At the conclusion of the proposed performance, each listener will have experienced something entirely unique and completely new.
KG Price, as featured in Voyage Chicago and recent recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Agency Individual Artist Support Program Grant, is a composer, percussionist and turntablist. He is the co-artistic director, along with Deirdre Harrison, for The Lucky Trikes, a family-friendly story-telling chamber band. Featured in 2017 in Chicago Parent and Make Music Chicago, The Lucky Trikes went on to perform this year at such established cultural icons as the Newberry Library and the Art Institute Chicago's inaugural Block Party of 2018. These were in addition to several Chicago residencies and many private parties. They have worked with numerous special guests, such as Angel Bat Dawid, Ben Lamar Gay, Mabel Kwan, Sara Zalek, and many members of MOCREP. Their currently anticipated project is a debut 7-inch record, which was recorded at Experimental Sound Studio by the illustrious Alex Inglizian. KG is a sought-after collaborator, having been invited to play with Stephan Moore and Hanna Brock at ESS's Florasonic Series earlier this year, and having been featured on a 12-inch record release with cellist Lilianna Sofia Wosko. KG’s turntablism, for which this proposal is presented, has been featured twice at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago for Make Music Chicago and for the event MERCE CUNNINGHAM: COMMON TIME featuring the members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Ensemble and alongside composers Stephan Moore and Katherine Young. His turntables have graced Slate Arts, TriTriangle the INTUIT Art Center and many of Chicago’s DIY living rooms and basements. KG's compositions have also been featured at Chopin Theatre, The Empty Bottle, Cafe Mustache, The Whistler, Christopher Narloch Studio, and with Toronto/Buffalo's WNED and PBS.
William Riley Leitch is a Chicago trombonist who specializes in contemporary and improvised performance. He has played with premier ensembles like Ensemble Dal Niente and members of ICE. He has attended the Nief Norf festival, soundSCAPE festival, and the Lucerne Festival Academy were he worked with Matthias Pintscher. Leitch has premiered over forty works for solo trombone, performer, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. He works side by side with composers to help remove traditional barriers between performers and audiences.
Kelley Sheehan is a Chicago-based composer and computer musician moving between acoustic, electronic, electro-acoustic, and performance art works. Her work promotes unconventional interactions between instruments, electronics, and musicians in an idealized collaborative environment. In either medium, her work explores mixing technology with acoustic instruments and playing with the historical connotation of each instrument.
Recently performing at the Option series at ESS, performing Jennifer Walshe’s Volunteer Chorus with Mocrep at the Art Institute of Chicago and performing with Riley Leitch at Nief Norf Summer Music Festival. In addition to her work co-curating and co-directing with NoiseBias, Kelley is co-founder of The Plucky Plunkers, a toy piano duo that is focused on commission and performing works for the toy piano. As an advocate for New Music, she is Co-Artistic Director and Editor at Cacophony Magazine, a Chicago based magazine dedicated to the advocation of contemporary music making and performance.