Rhizome, DC. 6950 Maple St NW, Washington DC 20012
Saturday November 9 * 4-6pm * $10-20 * TICKETS
https://www.rhizomedc.org/new-events/2024/11/9/future-music-dc-chet-udell-cecilia-suhr-jeff-kaiser
From the site: Join us for an exhilarating matinee performance of 3 intrepid electronic musicians offering a diverse buffet of delicacies that are sure to stimulate the senses and transport you into the future! This lineup features electronically-extended instruments and vocals, and a sneak peak at a brand new lightsaber-electric guitar instrument right out of a sci-fi film. Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur of the most cerebral outer reaches of sound, a fan of EDM, a futurist, or simply looking for a pleasurable thought-provoking way to spend some of your weekend, there’s something for everyone on this multi-dimensional program.
If a lightsaber and a guitar had a baby it would be the Optron, a light-based electronic music controller & visualizer designed by Chet Udell. Winner of Best Performance at the 2017 Georgia Tech Guthman Musical Instrument Competition, Optron was inspired by Japanese noise artist Atsuhiro Ito’s 1998 creation. Udell’s Optron looks like a fluorescent lamp but features advanced electronics and 144 RGB LEDs. It is an audio visualizer as well as a synthesizer of sound using light and webcam. With 15 sensors, it detects gestures like hand waves, finger presses and plucks, and tilt motions.
Udell might sometimes be found playing in a cantina on Tatooine and is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Oregon State University.
Cecilia Suhr is an award-winning intermedia/interdisciplinary artist and researcher, multi-instrumentalist (violin, cello, voice, piano, bamboo flute), multimedia composer, painter, author, and improviser. She has won numerous awards in the fields of music, art, interactive media, and academic research, including the American Prize (Honorable Mention), MacArthur Foundation, Digital Media and Learning Research Grant Award, Pauline Oliveros Award from the IAWM, Silver Medal Award from the Cambridge Music Competition, Bronze Medal Winner from the Global Music Awards, and Best of Competition Winner in Interactive Media and Emerging Technologies from the Broadcast Education Association.
Suhr is a Professor of Media Studies & Intermedia Performance at Miami University Regionals.
Jeff Kaiser is a trumpet player, composer, conductor, media technologist, and scholar. Classically trained as a trumpet player and composer, Kaiser now takes an integrative, systemic view that involves his traditional instrument, emergent technology (in the form of custom interactive/generative software and hardware interfaces), space, and audience: all being critical and integral participants in his dynamic and adventurous performances. He gains inspiration and ideas from the rich history of experimental improvisation and composition, cognitive science, and the vast timbral and formal affordances provided by combining traditional instruments with new and repurposed technologies. The roots of his music are firmly in the experimental traditions within jazz, improvisation, and Western art music practices. Kaiser considers his art audio-centric, but he also works with live video, tracking, and interactive and generative technologies.
Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Music at University of Central Missouri.
