Transonic Orchestra
About
Is it possible to understand the complex process we call globalization through the arts? Is it possible for people from different cultures and traditions to understand each other better through artistic experiences? And how are those experiences shaped by ideas about innovation, tradition and new media?
In 2003 and 2004, composer and Site/Sound curator Gene Coleman was the artistic director of the festival “Transonic: New Sound Experience,” which took place at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.
This was an ambitious effort to examine the ideas and work of bold musicians who challenge what the words “contemporary” “traditional” and “experimental” mean in the context of a rapidly transforming global landscape. In the ensuing 15 years, Coleman has continued his exploration of hybrid, transcultural music, collaborating with musicians from Japan, China, Lebanon, Brazil, India, Germany, Italy, and other countries, often combining live music, electronics, and video. After working recently with groups in Europe that explore similar terrain, Coleman has launched the Transonic Orchestra, which is made up of great musicians based in Philadelphia and New York, all of whom have very impressive careers as musicians and composers. These musicians come from a diverse, wide range of musical practices and traditions and seek to create a new kind of music in a new kind of way. The musicians live and work in the United States, but originate from many points around the world, illuminating the ways in which immigration enriches our society every day.
For the debut performances in the Site/Sound festival, the group takes images of signal architecture (including brain wave data in the form of visual and sound patterns) and re-purposes them as a musical score. They will also create musical dialogues with elements of the installation Aspect 281, bringing together sight and sound in unexpected ways.
Performance
Aspect 281 with Carolyn Healy & John JH Phillips
990 Spring Garden Street (East Lot)
Saturday, October 12, 2019, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
BEEP, directed by Adam Vidiksis. 6–6:30 p.m. / 7–7:15 p.m. / 8–8:30 p.m. / 9–9:30 p.m.
Transonic Orchestra, featuring Miya Masaoka (koto and electronics), Layale Chaker (violin), Dan Blacksberg (trombone), gamin (saenghwang and piri), Shinjoo Cho (bandoneon), Nick Millevoi (e-guitar), Kinan Abou-Afach (cello and oud), Adam Vidiksis (electronics and percussion), and Gene Coleman (musical direction). 6:30–7 p.m. / 7:30–8 p.m. / 8:30–9 p.m.
Performed as part of Site/Sound: Revealing the Rail Park (Oct. 5–19, 2019).
Installation Performances, Night Two
https://sitesoundphl.org/events/installation-performances-night-2/
