Graveshift – Through a rain-streaked cafe window, surveillance of a street scene is digitally transformed into a fluid chaos comprised of paranoia, ghostly figures, and alterations of reality. Echoes of a forgotten song float above the milieu, now gaining and now losing coherence. It is an image plagued by distortion, but this distortion emerges from quietness, and recedes once again into the same.

Then we saw Confined 10-01-2 by Paul J. Bohelho and Russell J. Chartier.

That was followed by Made In… by Hsiao-Lan Wang and Benoit Granier.

Next up came McFerron’s Prelude to You Brought this on Yourself.

Prelude to You Brought this On Yourself is the result of the collaborative production of a play by George Miller, my colleague at Lewis University. In his play, Dr. Miller sets in context the true story of a young female high school student who suffered enormous ridicule and even physical assault for the sole reason that she was openly homosexual. The principal of the High School where this occurred justified the assault by explaining to the parents, “she brought this on herself.”

This composition is not a commentary on religion, media, politics, or homosexuality. Above all, it is not an attempt to glorify, condone, or condemn homosexuality. Instead, this work is a commentary on a society’s intolerance of a human voice seeking neither audience nor acceptance – only existence.

Written in 2008, this fixed media composition features singer Jillian Kelm.

Then NGC 1999 by Samuel Pellman and Miranda Raimondi.

And Becoming 3-2 by Evan X. Merz.

The second to last piece was flutter arrhythmias by Charles Norman Mason and Sheri Willis.

flutter arrhythmias was originally conceived as a site-specific three screen installation which enveloped the viewer on three sides. It was installed at the Islip Museum of Art, Carriage House in New York in 2008. It was inspired by sounds from the installation space: the train in the distance, the birds, and the combination of mechanical and natural sounds.

Finally, the concert closed with Boop Boop Beep by David Morneau.

Despite some brief technical difficulties, the short concert flowed smoothly. The program was a diverse, but even mix of well-traveled composers such as Per Bloland, and less familiar composers. The audience was a small group of around 100 Lewis students and local musicians.

Here is the listening guide in pdf form, so that you can follow along with Kevin Austin’s lecture on Kontakte.

I am going to try and get Kevin on the phone for an interview later this week.