Sound Junction Main Programme
Sound Junction - for all venue information and ticketing
Sound Junction, Thursday 28 November 2024, [19:30 - 21:00]
Sound Junction, Friday 29 November 2024, [19:30 - 21:00]
Composing (with) Systems: 26 - 28 March 2025.
USSS invites contributions exploring the active role of systems in composition and sonic practice. We invite contributions that explore a wide range of systems including not only digital and electronic systems (e.g. modular, algorithmic, generative and AI based systems) but also conceptual systems, instrument design and adaptation, performance ecologies, assemblages and games. We welcome practical and theoretical contributions concerned with any area or period of music and sonic practice wherein systems have an active role in shaping, mediating, refracting or otherwise transforming the creative will.
- Performances
- Demonstrations
- Research papers
- Practical workshops
- Themed discussions
A mini conference with plenty of time for networking and socialising. We look forward to seeing you in Sheffield.
Past Events
Sound Junction and No Bounds Festival, Thursday 10 October 2024, [18:00 - 19:30]
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John Chowning: Guest lecture
Sound Junction and No Bounds Festival, Thursday 10 October 2024, [20:00 - 21:00]
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John Chowning: Solo concert
- Phonē (1981) 12:00
- SABELITHE (1971) 6:00
- Turenas (1972) 10:00
- Stria (1977) 16:00
- Voices (2011) 13:00
Sound Junction, Friday 19 April 2024, [19:30 - 21:30] - view details here
In memory of Francis Dhomont
Francis Dhomont died on December 28, 2023 aged 97. I would like to celebrate his life and work in this Sound Junction event. The electroacoustic community is perhaps a small world but it is incredibly close, warm and welcoming. I was fortunate enough to meet Francis Dhomont in the early 90s when I was given the opportunity to use the studios of the University of Montreal for three weeks. He was a major influence for many electroacoustic composers in the UK and he performed in Sheffield on numerous occasions. His music is delicate but intense and there is, for me, an underlying sense of tradition in his music. No more so than in his Cycle du son which we perform complete tonight. And no more so than in the third piece of the cycle; Novars. A play on the phrase Ars Nova, associated with 14th century composers such as Machaut, Dhomont realised electroacoustic music was going to be the new art of the 1980s. Dhomont draws upon small samples from Machaut and the great music concrète pioneer Pierre Schaeffer to weave the four pieces of the cycle. The soundworlds are subtle and immersive, fleeting but at times full on. They are wonderful works to play. I hope you can join us on Friday and enjoy listening to the performers shaping Dhomont's stereo sounds over the full 32 loudspeaker system of Sound Junction. Adrian Moore (15.02.24)
Set1: USSS composers and friends
Francis Dhomont: Cycle du son: - learn more about this amazing sequence of works here
Francis Dhomont: Objets retrouvés (1996), 5:20. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Jonty Harrison
Yi Cai: Opera dream (2024), 8:00. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Yi Cai
Weichen Wang: Paradise, Beasts, Nature and Birds (2024), 8:00. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Weichen Wang
Neal Farwell: Study in Steel (2022), 4:30. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Adrian Moore
Francis Dhomont: AvatArsSon (1998), 18:11. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Louise Rossiter
--- interval ---
Mario Cáceres: Deception (2024), 8:00. Live performance
Francis Dhomont: Novars (1989), 19:07. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Adrian Moore
Boyi Bai: Exploring Silence: Japan (2024), 12:00. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Boyi Bai
Francis Dhomont: Phonurgie (1998), 12:43. Sound diffusion and interpretation: Pete Stollery
Sound Junction, Saturday 20 April 2024, [19:30 - 21:30] - featuring Marta Domingues and Félicia Atkinson view details here
Saturday's Sound Junction continues the theme of acousmatic music but adds new and dynamic live elements. It is a huge honour to welcome Marta Domingues and Félicia Atkinson.
Set1: Marta Domingues
-grafia (2023) 12:00 [solo percussion, Francisco Cipriano]
Yliathim (2018) 6:57 [stereo]
Brincar de Pensar (2020) 8:54 [stereo]
Instantes (2022) 12:18 [stereo]
All works performed by Marta Domingues.
--- interval ---
Set2: Félicia Atkinson - personal website
The Thinking Iceberg (solo version 40 mn)
Inspired by diverse writings such as The Sea Around Us by the environmentalist Rachel Carson and Thinking Like An Iceberg by the philosopher Oliver Remaud, in which he paints a web of reciprocal connections between icebergs and human life, the electroacoustic composer Félicia Atkinson will play The Thinking Iceberg, a solo and shorter version of her new piece Through The Thinking Iceberg that she premiered at Volkbuhne theatre during CTM festival last February in Berlin with the collaboration of Jules Reidy and crys cole.
Here, the scenography is the development of the music itself, unfurling an open reflection about what it takes to care about an environment and each other, and what also links solitude to togetherness, a poetic argument between written elements and improvised words, movements and sounds, a meditation on vulnerability. For Atkinson, human voices inhabit an ecology alongside and within many other things that don’t speak; her artistic work imagines possibilities of animating and entering into dialogue with such entities.
A performance that will drift and melt slowly, Through the Thinking Iceberg combines grand piano, field recordings, voices, and whispers into an abstract minimal 'grunge', full of small details, metaphors, abstractions, revealing a complex and fragile interconnectedness even in places where there seems to be no life at all.
Preview a work by Marta Domingues
Sound Junction, Friday 01 December 2023, [19:30 - 21:00]
featuring local artists, University of Sheffield Sound Studios students and staff, guest alumnus Christopher Hobbs and special guest Mariana Vieira
Adrian Moore - Voices in the Dark - stereo - 5:30
Christopher Hobbs - When I Was Young I Used to Always Go on the Double Decker Bus on the Carousel - stereo - 9:21
Will Schrimshaw - Cracked and Blessed (with Clare Fisher) - 8 channels - 8:00
Yuqi Zhou - How to move the Zoo into the studio - stereo - 8:00
Students from MUS643 - Electronic Music Techniques present a short clip of their work.
----interval----
Mariana Vieira - carte blanche programme of Portuguese electroacoustic
Mariana Vieira - The Unexpected Encounter with Diversity - stereo - 8:01 (2021)
Jaime Reis: Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel - 8 channels - 9:00 - (2017)
João Pedro Oliveira: La Mer Émeraude - 8 channels - 11:00 - (2018)
Special Exhibition (Chancellor's Room) running throughout the two days of Sound Junction
Julia Schauerman: Sonic Triptych 2020 - A work about the experience of ‘lockdown’ in 2020; it combines the following works: -
- Excoriate on the Inside: A noise of inner turmoil (stereo speakers in a booth).
- There There: A sonic cuddle in a time of social distancing, featuring the voice of Sarah Powell (headphones and comfy chairs).
- FaithMusic: In March 2020, I began making daily field recordings and uploading them onto my Soundcloud site. On the second Sunday of ‘lockdown’ I recorded within the grounds of Ecclesall All Saints church; standing there in the early morning recording the birds and bells I felt comforted. Following this, each Sunday I would walk to a church and record; it became a pilgrimage for me (two sets of stereo speakers and garden benches).
Sound Junction, Saturday 02 December 2023, [19:30 - 21:00]
featuring local artists, University of Sheffield Sound Studios students and staff, and special guest Christopher Haworth
Boyi Bai - Echoes of National park - stereo - 8:00
Mario Cáceres
- I’ll Wait - Stereo 6:00
- As Heavy as a Man - 8 channels - 10 mins
Julia Schauerman - MetalWorks - stereo - 14:17
----interval----
Christopher Haworth
- Correlation Number One - 8 channels - 8:32
- Rubber - live stereo modular system, 12 mins
Mariana Vieira Photo
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Mariana Vieira (Portugal) is a composer based in Lisbon. She studied Music Composition at the Lisbon College of Music (ESML), where she completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree with composers Carlos Caires and Jaime Reis. Her work includes acousmatic, mixed and instrumental music in solo, chamber, ensemble and orchestral settings. Her music has been performed in festivals such as Young Euro Classic and BachFest (Germany), L’Espace du Son (Belgium), Audio Art (Poland), Electroacoustic Music Days (Greece) Crossroads and Echoes Around Me (Austria), Monaco Electroacoustique (Monaco), and Música Viva (Portugal). Recipient of European Composer Award (Germany) in 2017 for her piece “Raiz”, written for the Portuguese Youth Orchestra (JOP), the Electronic Music Composition Contest of Musicworks magazine (Canada) in 2021 and the Young Lion*ess of Acousmatic Music (Austria) award of The Acousmatic Project in 2022. |
Mariana Vieira: The Unexpected Encounter with Diversity (stereo, 8:01) - 2021
Sound Junction, Saturday 06 May 2023 - Martyn Ware/BEF presents...Music for Total 3D Sonic Immersion
The constantly-evolving relationship between humans and technology is the inspiration for this event’s triptych of works curated and performed by Martyn Ware (Heaven 17) and some special guests. The performances will feature a unique three-dimensional sound array configured especially for this concert – this allows for different elements of the compositions to be distributed around the auditorium in a multitude of three dimensional soundstreams.
Featuring guest stars The Utopia Strong and Richard Norris (The Grid) with many surprise guests
N.b. Venue: Octagon Centre.
Sound Junction, Friday 31 March 2023
19:30 - As part of a week of new music Sound Junction continues with a twist on the regular Sound Junction format. In addition to the usual fare, we’ll exploring the wealth of artists who use samples and pre-recorded audio with some special live performances. Venue: Firth Hall
Three local sound artists will be performing live with found sounds, live manipulation, synthesis, field recordings and fixed media.
- Lorenzo Prati: amplified Arts Tower instrument, field recordings
- Ross Davidson: Objects, Synths
- Hervé Perez: Improvisation with field recordings
Sound Junction, Saturday 01 April 2023
19:30 - As part of a week of new music Sound Junction continues with a twist on the regular Sound Junction format. In addition to the usual fare, we’ll exploring the wealth of artists who use samples and pre-recorded audio with some special live performances. Venue: Firth Hall
Saturday will see a performance from UK based artist, composer and musician Bredbeddle, aka, Rebecca Lee. Rebecca uses found sounds, recordings and loops to create sonic collages.
Bredbeddle on SoundCloud
Sound Junction, Saturday 10th December 2022
Tickets (£5 per concert) available here
Concert 1: 18:30 - 19:30 featuring USSS composers, alumni and special guest Brona Martin
- If Only I Could Get In The Habit Of It - Ross Davidson
- Tick Crock - Yuqi Zhou
- Grains of Temporality - Berk Yağlı
- Ephemerality - Henry Eady
- Breaking the Chains - Brona Martin
- Young Sirs - Mario Cáceres
- Myself - Mario Cáceres
CD launch: 19:45 Adam Stanović launches his new CD Hymnes sans paroles (Chancellors Room)
Installation: 14:00 - 22:00 Lorenzo Prati presents his Arts Tower site-specific mixed-media piece, Melting Buildings, 2022 (Council Room)
Concert 2: 20:30 - 21:30 featuring USSS composers, alumni and special guest Brona Martin
- Béton Brut - Matt Pinker
- thalassophile - Aikaterini Ilia
- Helix - Adam Stanović
- Parque Urbano El Bosque to Curiñanco Beach - Brona Martin
- Margaret’s Story - Brona Martin
Brona Martin is an Electroacoustic composer and sound artist from Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland, currently based in Birmingham, UK. Her compositions explore narrative in Electroacoustic music, acoustic ecology and spatialisation techniques through the creation of metaphorical and real-world immersive experiences. Brona is currently a Teaching Fellow in Music at the University of Birmingham and a Visiting Tutor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where she teaches Studio Composition, Electronic Music Studies and Music Production. She is also a Research Fellow working with the SOUND/IMAGE Research group at the University of Greenwich. In 2022, Brona received 'Develop Your Creative Practice' funding from Arts Council England for a proposal on "Immersive Interactive VR" which explores soundscape composition, installation art, gaming technologies and spatial audio using the IKO 3D loudspeaker at the University of Greenwich. www.bronamartin.org
Sound Junction, Friday 31st March, Saturday 1st April 2023
Sound Junction, Saturday 6th May 2023
feat. very special guest.
Sound Junction, Thursday - Friday 12/13 May 2022
Foyer Installation: An Artist at Work
A portrait of artist Alison Churchill and how the waters of Sheffield drive her work. Keshia Saunders (Director); Music and Sound (Richard McCormick); Cinematography (Harry Moore);
Thursday 12th May 5:30 - 6:30 - USSS composers on the MA composition
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Richard McCormick |
GeoSonic |
2022 |
6' |
Audio Visual |
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Xiaoyu Chang |
Maze |
2022 |
10' |
stereo |
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Guanjun Qin |
Scary Guitar? No! Victory Guitar! |
2022 |
7'03" |
stereo |
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Ziyuan Guo |
The Oasis of Mirage |
2022 |
11'30" |
stereo |
| Adrian Moore | Junky | 1996 | 12'13 | stereo |
Thursday 12th May 7:30 - 9:30 - with special guest Jason Sharp
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Mario Cáceres |
I’ll Wait |
(2022) |
6'45" |
Mia Martinovic (voice) |
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Chris Bevan |
Circum |
(2014) |
15' |
stereo |
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Julia Schauerman |
5LoveSongs Premiere |
(2021) |
12’54” |
Audio Visual |
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Interval |
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Jason Sharp |
The Turning Centre Of A Still World The performance will be around 45 minutes. Please scroll down to read more about Jason Sharp and his third album. |
Friday 13th May 5:30 - 6:30 - with special guest Alistair MacDonald
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Mario Cáceres |
Young Sirs |
(2021) |
7’01’’ |
stereo |
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Pete Stollery |
AliMac@60 |
(2022) |
6’02” |
8-channel |
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Alistair MacDonald |
Scintilla |
(2013) |
9’ |
stereo |
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Equivalence |
(2007) |
12’44” |
stereo |
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Cladach (seashore) Premiere |
(2022) |
10’ |
stereo |
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Friday 13th May 7:30 - 9:30 - with special guest Jonty Harrison
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Jonty Harrison |
Unsound Objects |
(1995) |
15’ |
stereo |
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Internal Combustion |
(2005-06) |
12’ |
8-channel |
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Petit prélude parallèle |
(2018) |
9’ |
ambisonic |
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Interval |
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Pete Stollery |
Pandemonium |
(2021) |
12’49” |
ambisonic |
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Jonty Harrison |
OverBoard Premiere |
(2020-2021) |
4’ |
ambisonic |
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WhirlPool |
(2021) |
6’ |
ambisonic |
Tickets here. (n.b. weekend pass should read festival pass)
Jason Sharp: The Turning Centre Of A Still World
Jason Sharp in Performance
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YouTube example |
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Montréal saxophonist and electroacoustic composer Jason Sharp presents his third album. The Turning Centre Of A Still World is Sharp’s first purely solo record and his most lucid, Using saxophones, foot-controlled bass pedals, and his own pulse – patched through a heart monitor routed to variegated signal paths that trigger modular synthesizers and samplers – Sharp paints with organic waves of glistening synthesis, pink noise and digitalia. Melodic strokes and harmonic shapes ripple and crest across ever-shifting seas, through an inclement cycle from dawn to dusk. The album’s six main movements navigate a world where placid surfaces are always roiled and disquieted by a deeper inexorable gyre: the gravitational pull and tidal perpetuity of our bodies made of water, buffeted by terrestrial atmospheric pressures, wrung out by emotions, coursing with blood, sustained by breath, inescapably yearning for and returning to ground again and again. Sharp’s heartbeat literally courses through these compositions – while only occasionally surfacing as a clearly audible pulse or rhythm, it physically feeds into a spectrum of generative synthetic processes that help constitute and conduct the music. |
Sound Junction, Friday - Saturday 26/27 November 2021
Sound Junction returns to Firth Hall with their 32 channel immersive sound system. In addition to premieres of works by USSS students and staff we will present multimedia works and music for clarinet and computer featuring Sarah Watts.
The concert on Saturday 27th will celebrate the work of Adam Stanović, an incredible composer who has been with USSS for a decade of music making.
Friday 26th November 5pm:
Adrian Moore demonstrates the fractured acousmatic using his new work Routes.
Friday 26th November 7:30pm: USSS composers & Sarah Watts
We are delighted to welcome Clarinet virtuoso Sarah Watts to Sound Junction. Sarah is at the forefront of contemporary clarinet performance and tonight she gives two pieces written especially for her. Please visit http://www.sarahkwatts.co.uk/home/index.html for more information about Sarah’s work.
Wayne Siegel
- Salamander (2020) - 11:14, Bass clarinet and fixed media (preview a version for baritone saxophone here)
Sungji Hong
- Ekvallein (2021) - 09:30, Bass clarinet and fixed media (preview here)
interval (with pop-up bar) - (technical changes)
University of Sheffield Sound Studios presents three composers that have become part of the central team of artists working in and around the Sheffield region. Mario Cáceres is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Sheffield with Adam Stanović. Julia Schauerman completed numerous multi-media collaborative projects during her studies. Chris is completing his doctoral studies: his research has won numerous prizes. Together Mario, Julia and Chris present a contrasting sequence of works.
Julia Schauerman
- Buzzing City (2021) - 5:34, fixed media (preview here)
- Peat Song (2021) - 5:28, audio-visual
Chris Bevan
- Ceramos (2017) - 13:15, fixed media (preview here)
Mario Cáceres
- Bricks and sticks (2021), - 6:10, stereo fixed media
- None of this is my fault (2021) - 3:50, stereo fixed media
Saturday 27th November 7:30pm: USSS composers & Adam Stanović
After a decade at USSS Adam Stanović is moving to direct the studios at the University of the Arts, London. Adam has driven Sound Junction towards bolder, more dramatic and more diverse programmes. His prize-winning musical works push boundaries and continue to define and reaffirm the tradition of acousmatic music composition and sound diffusion. In a celebratory concert, Adam will diffuse three works by graduating USSS Master's composers before presenting his own works.
Zhaoxin Jin
- COVID-19 (2021) - 7:00, stereo fixed media
Haocheng Qu
- Deep Forest (2021) - 8:00, stereo fixed media
Berk Yagli
- A Hybrid Mind (2021) - 15:23, stereo fixed media
interval (with pop-up bar)
Adam Stanović
- Foundry Flux (2015) - 12:13, stereo fixed media
- Inja (2018) - 10:16, stereo fixed media
- Goodnight, Tin Hau (2021) - 25:00, stereo fixed media
If you are interested in acousmatic music, sound diffusion and music technology at The University of Sheffield please get in touch with Adrian Moore (a.j.moore@shef.ac.uk) and please do come along to our after-party and say hello.
Sound Junction, Friday April 30th, 2021
Sound Junction remains online in April (but watch out for our November 'live' event, currently slated for 26,27 November). For our April event we are delighted to present new work from USSS, and welcome two very special guests who will curate a short programme of their music. João Pedro Oliveira and Elainie Lillios will join us as they present new music for computer, instruments and video.
| João Pedro Oliveira |
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Set 1. João Pedro Oliveira - 19:30 |
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Media | Year | Dur | |
| João Pedro Oliveira | Video Introduction | ||||
| Petals | visual music | 2016 | 8:00 | ||
| In Tempore | piano, electronics and video | 2000-2015 |
11:00 |
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| La Mer Émeraude | acousmatic | 2018 | 12:00 | ||
| Tesseract | visual music | 2017 | 9:00 | ||
| Set 2. USSS - approximately 20:20 |
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| Dimitris Savva | Echo the nymph of reflection | acousmatic | 2020 | 9:30 | |
| Chris Bevan | Over | Roudeille | acousmatic | 2020 | 10:48 | |
| Julia Schauerman (sound) Jean Hogg (photographs) Nicola Schauerman (code) | Into a Several World | visual music | 2021 | 5:00 | |
| Mario Caceres | Sophie’s Dance | acousmatic | 2020 | 7:36 | |
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Set 3. Elainie Lillios - approximately 21:10 |
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| Elainie Lillios | Video introduction in conversation with Adrian Moore | 11:45 | |||
| Bonnie Mitchell (video) and Elainie Lillios (audio) | Sweeping Memories | visual music | 3:30 | ||
| Elainie Lillios | Immeasurable Distance | percussion and electronics | 2019 | 10:26 | |
| Listening Beyond... | acousmatic | 2007 | 8:41 | ||
| Bonnie Mitchell (video) and Elainie Lillios (audio) | Paradigm Shift | visual music | 6:00 |
Sound Junction November 21st, 2020 (link to concerts pages for sign up and free ticket)
Five World Premieres - join the Facebook page
Sound Junction uses a purpose-built, multi-speaker sound system and darkness to create the ideal listening conditions (just not tonight :). Surrounded by strange yet familiar sounds, this setting gives your mind the space and your imagination the freedom to take you on a personal journey through 3D soundscapes familiar and new.
We are delighted to welcome music from two special guests, Professor Dale Perkins who has drawn from his beginnings as a visual artist and classical musician to create a hybrid music that resides at the vanguard of computer music, Rick Nance; an acousmatic composer and a free improvisation trumpet and guitar player. We are also thrilled to welcome back Louise Rossiter, with her incredible project creating a sonic journey through Fritz Kahn’s pioneering infographics of the human body. Also including pieces from the University of Sheffield Sound Studios composers, Julia Schauerman and Mario Caceres. Please do join us in the chat room after the concert for a quick Q+A.
Equipoise (still)
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Sound Junction November 14th, 2020 (link to concerts pages for sign up and ticketing information)
A live streamed concert featuring the best of live-coding and electroacoustic composition. Starting at 7.30, expect an evening of sound both immersive and frenetic – as performers explore the possibilities in live coded music, and acousmatic composition. We’re especially excited for some binaural live performances from our live-coders – so you’ll be able to experience 3D binaural effects at home. Binaural sound is a way of creating the illusion of 3D sound through stereo audio – it’s a strange but immersive experience, and can be achieved through any pair of headphones. Right now, that might be the closest you get to the real thing, and it should be a lot of fun!
Estimated schedule:
7.30pm to 8.30pm – Live-coded performances from Alex McLean, Gerard Roma and Anna Xambo
8.30pm to 9pm – Discussion of the potential of binaural effects in live coding and a Q & A (access link will be sent out to the audience).
9pm to 9.40pm – Acousmatic pieces from Sound Junction friends and University of Sheffield Sound Studios followed by a preview of the forthcoming concert on the 21st November with Rick Nance, Dale Perkins and Louise Rossiter.
Ice Organ (still)
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Sound Junction Online April 2020: Thank you to all that tuned in - full event video available.
After a very successful Sound Junction live stream on Friday 17th at 19:30 GMT with a varied programme of works from the USSS stable, we are delighted to present the concert in its entirety at the following link
Saturday 4th April 2020
Concert 3: 17:00 USSS
- Julia Schauerman - Take Flight (2020)
- Mario Cáceres – Vanishing (2020)
- Adrian Moore - Audiogentry (2019)
Concert 4: 19:00 with special guest Thierry Miroglio (percussion and electronics).
- Benoît Granier - Imaginem Mundi Per Orbern Sonus Saturatiorbis (Percussion and electronics)
- Tom Williams - A Shadow that Falls (unpitched percussion and fixed media)
- Adam Stanovic - Exchanges of Pace (Electronics and vibraphone)
----------------interval---------------
- Sam Hayden - Le Retour à la Raison (Percussion and live electronics with film by Man Ray)
- Paulo C. Chagas - Sisyphus of the Ear (Percussion, Film and electronics: Film by Johannes Birringer)
(Thierry MIROGLIO, solo Percussion)
Coronavirus thinking as of 04.03.2020. Current thinking from government and TUoS Concerts is that with due care and attention this event is going ahead. However, the situation is clearly volatile.
Tickets and Pricing
For tickets and pricing visit http://concerts.sheffield.ac.uk/
Accommodation
For accommodation information in Sheffield visit http://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk/visit/stay
What to expect at Sound Junction April 2020
All being well Sound Junction is set to run in April 2020. Electroacoustic Music events are probably never considered as 'mass gatherings' so unless you hear otherwise, we look forward to welcoming you to Sheffield. Diversity is our key driver for this festival and our final concert features the incredible Thierry Miroglio performing on a battery of percussion. Each work is for different forces, both electronic and percussive, and there are video accompaniments to two of the works. Our 5pm concerts on both days are exclusively for local talent (both new and established). For those new to these events, students start working in stereo (2 channel) and produce pieces that are easily consumed over a pair of loudspeakers or headphones. They craft sounds over time and this creates spaces new and / or familiar and takes the listener on a journey of sorts. Therefore in order to do full justice to the physicality of their creations we perform works in concert over 32 loudspeakers that allow for a fully immersive experience. If a sound 'sounds distant' it can be placed in the distance; if a sound is meant to fly overhead it can be placed in loudspeakers above the audience. In many respects this practice of sound diffusion is very much like lighting diffusion. One can spotlight sound and create a wash or flood of sound. The practice demands rehearsal and therefore forms a critical part of the education and development of student composers.
We are very fortunate in Sheffield to be well located to other centres of excellence in electroacoustic music. Our 7pm concert on Friday sees a welcome return of composers from Leeds and Leicester that have come to Sound Junction in the past and enjoyed performing and socialising with our group. Louise Rossiter was a special guest back in November and she performed a series of pieces inspired by the infographics of Fritz Kahn. We didn't get to sample her last work in this series but we do now. This work brings pulse to the foreground and is a really spirited addition to the set. Rick Nance's 'Tearing up' encourages us to focus in on the detail of his excellent sound recordings and careful editing. Dale Perkins' music is often quite bold in his use of pulse. 'Equipoise' is no doubt going to rock the room.
Adrian Moore and Adam Stanovic present recent works from USSS community projects. Over the past two years, USSS composers have taken field recording trips to places of cultural significance. Soundscape recordings have been crafted into new works that act as musical commentaries on place, space, culture and society. The opportunity to develop this practice will hopefully see USSS working with the National Forest and other regional initiatives in the coming months. In a climate of massive change, the ability to record, reflect, listen, remember and learn is a stimulus for artists to create and a golden opportunity to share our auditory experiences.
Sound Junction 1 - November 2019
Friday 22nd November 2019
17:00 Composers working in University of Sheffield Sound Studios
- Chris Bevan: Salten Drift
- James Surgenor: Terra Forma
- Che Gorka: Kick
- Julia Schauerman: Ariel Dreams
- Mario Caceres: Lead a Pony
- Ben Felstead: The Origin of Our Species
- Isaac Baggaley: Desert Honey
18:15 CD Launch: Join us for a complimentary glass of wine as Louise Rossiter launches her new CD which features works exploring silence, soundscape, and the first three works of the Music – Bodies – Machines project, based on the infographics of Fritz Kahn. The latest work, Neuronen, comparing the nervous system (impulse and reflex responses) of the human body to the mechanisms of a doorbell, will be a world premiere at Sound Junction.
19:00 USSS + Special guest: Louise Rossiter (listen here).
- Louise Rossiter: Homo Machina
- Adrian Moore: Audiogentry
- Louise Rossiter: Fairytale Journey
Short interval
- Adam Stanović: Baltazar's Adventure through the Great Machine
- Louise Rossiter: Neuronen (Premiere)
Louise writes:
"The visual crossover between industrialisation and science in Fritz Kahn's artwork demonstrates the means by which human nature became culturally encoded by placing the knowledge of the human anatomy within the context of the modern, industrial world. Kahn produced lots of illustrations that drew a direct functional analogy between human physiology and the operation of modern technologies of the times. Therefore, by illustrating the body as a factory, Kahn was able to relate the body’s complex organic interior to the industrialised space so common in society during the 1920’s."
"Neuronen is the fourth work completed as part of the Der Industriepalast suite – a collection of works based on the infographics of Fritz Kahn. In July 2019, I was invited to present a seminar based on my research at the University of Sheffield, and was challenged to document exactly happens when I respond to Fritz Kahn's infographics in my acousmatic compositions.
This piece was composed in direct response to this challenge and intends to directly describe aurally, over 9:33, what happens in a split second, and and is repeated millions of times a day in the human body. It attempts to achieve through sound, what Fritz Kahn’s infographics do visually - that is, the understanding, or at least, some comprehension of an extremely complicated process." (Louise Rossiter)
Saturday 23rd November 2019
13:00 Special guest Dimitris Savva: Moments of Liberty (complete) - listen here
- Moments of Liberty 1: Outside & Insight
- Moments of Liberty 2: Falling Within
- Moments of Liberty 3: Standing Without
- Moments of Liberty 4: Towards the Sea
This concert will last approximately 1 hour.
17:00 USSS
- Matt Pinker: Dusk
- Lorenzo Prati: Acqua Calda
- Ross Davidson: Industry
- Adam Stanović: Would be to Seek
- Adrian Moore: Nebula Sequence
19:00 Special guests: Andreas Weixler and Se-Lien Chuang (piano and electronics) - see their concert link
- Andreas Weixler: Wetterleuchten
- Se-Lien Chuang: ec-lipse
- Andreas Weixler: for Pi
- Se-Lien Chuang: VICC_Variations
- Se-Lien Chuang: for IO
Interval
- Weixler/Chuang: Die Rache der Normalbegabten (Piano and live electronics)
- Andreas Weixler: Broken Bowls - talk
- Se-Lien Chuang: gula huset
- Andreas Weixler: Water Ghosts
click here for a link to a zip file of historic sound junction events (2006-2019)