UB’s 2015 Black Box Concert explores electro-acoustic and computer music

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo Department of Music will present on Wednesday its annual Black Box Concert dedicated to electro-acoustic and computer music.

Organized by the music department’s Lejaren Hiller Computer Music Studios, the event will be held in the Black Box Theater at UB’s Center for the Arts (CFA), which has surround-sound capabilities that create immersive, sonic environments for the listener.

What: UB’s Black Box Concert featuring electro-acoustic and computer music.

When: Wednesday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m.

Where: The CFA’s Black Box Theater (building No. 2 on this map: http://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/www/shared_assets/campus_maps/NorthCampus_bus-routes-opt.pdf)

Cost: Free

What you’ll hear: The concert will feature work by groundbreaking composers, many of whom are current and former UB faculty members, students and alumni. Examples include:

• Computer music like John Chowning’s “Phoné” (1981), the first piece to utilize the timbral possibilities of FM synthesis to create synthetic vowel sounds and electronic voices.
• Both Maggi Payne’s “Crystal” (1982) and UB associate professor of music Cort Lippe’s “Ivocean” (1978). The works, created with early analog synthesizers, crafted new timbres that still sound exciting and undated.
• Gayle Young's “Avalon Shorelines” (2015) is a multichannel soundscape which uses recordings of the titular waterfront to construct an elaborate and multidimensional sonic landscape.
• The concert will also feature new works by UB composers, including Ethan Hayden’s “…ce dangereux supplément…” (2015), a dynamic piece for live and recorded voices, and Brett Masteller’s “Trio of Duets,” a rich textural tapestry created from samples of instrumental sounds.