Saturday, November 1

9:30 pm

$ 15 General
$ 10 Students/Seniors

NWEAMO 2008: Sex and Sexuality

a set of quiet, sensous works works that explore spatialization and multi-channel sound

SEX SELLS!! Ñis the cliche that is muttered sarcastically by "serious" artists, and is the time-honored sacred weapon of commercial marketeers. But can art be about sex, or the emotional swirl that surrounds it?
Sex is used to market everything (EXCEPT avant-garde classical music these days) so it is hard to say that it is overused Ñ that would be a magnificent understatement! But the point is that it is used so often because we seem to be a species that is perpetually intrigued (fascinated, embarrassed, outraged, attracted etc.) by that subject.
For the 2008 Festival NWEAMO wrestles (innuendo intended!) with the aesthetics, gender issues, politics, norms, history, rituals, taboos, propaganda, stereotypes, spirituality and physiology of this emotional and physical dance that preoccupies most of us for so much of our lives.
Despite (or perhaps because) of its grassroots organization, this annual all-volunteer extravaganza has spread around the US and Mexico, and leaped across the Atlantic to Germany and Italy. 2008 marks the 3rd year in Manhattan.
This year the festival takes place in Venice Italy, San Diego, Miami, Stony Brook, and grand finale on Halloween & Nov. 1 at Joe's Pub, Galapagos Art Space and Diapason.

World Premiere (Untitled)
by Jody Redhage & Paula Mathusen

Crossover cellist-vocalist Jody Redhage teams up with electro-acoustic composer Paula to create contemporary folk-classical in the spirit of Dylan-meets-Glass
http://www.myspace.com/jodyredhage

Immaculata Erotica
by Tom Lopez

One might regard this piece as a melding of two sensitivities. The performance physicalizes timbre and simultaneously the music sonifies texture. The meeting point is an erogenous zone where I hope to reveal that the two should never be separated. This addresses a problem similar to the paradox of "immaculate conception;" reproduction without sex, sex without touching. What does it feel like to have sex without touching? What does an instrument sound like without playing it? Some of the words people have written about Tom Lopez and his creative work: "A rich and sensuous pieceÉ"Éincredibly effectiveÉ"Éextremely well-writtenÉ"Éthe most artistically satisfying work on the program." "Using great imagination and a keen sense for the dramaticÉ"Éadeptly playing with tension and delicacyÉ"Éclear delineationsÉ"Éunderstated athleticismÉ"Éwell-crafted and distinctive musical ideasÉ"Éthe sound coming from the stage is enveloped in a sphere of reprocessed sounds, as if the air inside the theater itself were a resonant shellÉ"Éallowing the audience to feel as well as hear the sensuousness of the sounds."

"Heloise" by Robert Mackay

The opera is based on the lives and writings of Abelard and Heloise. Two real life characters, whose tale echoes down from the 12th Century as one of the world's great love stories. Abelard was a brilliant theologian who became a teacher at Notre-Dame. He was also tutor to Heloise, the exceptionally bright and learned 17 year old niece of Canon Fulbert, her guardian. They fell passionately in love, and secretly eloped. 'Love's Beginning's' This piece introduces the beginning of the story, shortly after Heloise and Abelard have fallen in love. 'Need Without Reason' At this point, Abelard sleeps before he travels back to Paris, after fleeing to Britany where Heloise bore him a son, to confront her uncle Fulbert and ask for her hand in marriage. The piece reflects his thoughts and dreams as he prepares for the day ahead 'Augustine's Message' In this section of the story, Saint Augustine visits Abelard in a dream, in which he is battling to come to terms with his recent castration. (All of the sounds within this piece, with the exception of one, have been derived from recordings of the human voice. Using either sung or spoken text. I have tried to evoke the meaning of the spoken text, incorporating word painting in certain passages.) 'Heloise' With our lessons as a pretext we abandoned ourselves entirely to love. Her studies allowed us to withdraw in private, as love desired, with our books open before us more words of love than of our reading passed between us, and more kissing than teaching. My hands strayed more often over the curves of her body than to the pages; love drew our eyes to look on each other more than reading kept them on our texts.'

Keo by Chickashi Miyama

Japanese composer Chickashi Miyama invents and performs on exotic electro-acoustic instruments. http://chikashi.net "Keo" is a performance for voice improvisation, Qgo sensor instrument , and live electronics. The author attempts to realize three concepts in the work. The first is "dual-layered control," in which the performer improvises phrases by singing and providing sound materials for a computer. Simultaneously, he sends commands to the computer to process vocals using a pair of sensor devices worn on both hands. The second is the connection between the visuality of the performance and the musical gestures. In most parts of the performance, the movement of the sensor instrument and the musical parameters are clearly connected. If the performer moves his hand even slightly, particular aspects of the sound are influenced in an obvious manner. The third is the strong connection between music and theatricality. In several parts of this work, the body motions of the performer not only control the sensor device, but also provide some theatrical meanings.

Since 1998 NWEAMO (New West Electronic Arts and Music Organization) has been presenting highly eclectic concert-events that fill the room with beats, invented instruments, video, dance and electronic music from the far reaches of concept and aesthetics. High and low, street and laboratory -- anything and everything converges, by design, at a NWEAMO event.