This weekend, Princeton will host 'Listening in the Sound Kitchen,' a festival celebrating electronic, electro-acoustic and computer-generated music and its social and cultural impact. The three-day event will include performances and panel discussions with composers, performers and scholars from around the world.
Pauline Oliveros, a composer and performer who has explored the uses of sound for over five decades, will deliver the keynote address, "Cooking in the Quantum Kitchen: Nourishing the Body of Electro-Acoustic Music" at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 in McCosh 50.
Oliveros first became interested in sound as a young girl when she heard the static coming from her grandfather's Crystal Radio. In the 1960s she paved the way for future artists by incorporating sound into her music.
"If you're only referencing a scale, then you're limited to a select number of notes, but if you use sound in your music, then the possibilities are endless," Oliveros explained. Her use of sound to induce a heightened concentration in her listeners has led many to credit her with the foundation of modern meditative music.
In concert, Oliveros plays an accordion. Her most recent work, "Timeless Pulse," in which she collaborated with George Marsh, Jennifer Wilsey and David Wessel, was released in 2002. On the album, the musicians listen to each other and respond with their instruments to create a combination of percussion, accordion and computer realized sound.
"Timeless Pulse" is a product of the Pauline Oliveros Foundation, which seeks to encourage innovation and diversity in music and its technologies through Deep Listening, a practice Oliveros developed. Deep Listening requires a listener to actively listen to sound and expand the possibility or interaction between one's music and one's environment.
Oliveros is currently a Distinguished Research Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Darius Milhaud Composer in Residence at Mills College and a mentor in the Bard College summer MFA program. She has been honored with award, grants and international concerts for her music, which combines improvisation, electronic sound, accordion and meditation. She has also written numerous musical compositions for soloists and ensembles in music, dance, theater and inter-arts companies.
Through the Pauline Oliveros Foundation, and particularly her Deep Listening Space, Oliveros continues to offer leadership in the music community and advocate for experimentalist music and artists of all ages. Many of her former students will be performing during Listening in the Sound Kitchen, a testament to her dedication and success as a teacher and mentor.
Professors and students from Princeton, Brown University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the Korean National University of Arts and University of California – San Diego, as well as artists from Austria and Germany, will perform and speak during the festival, too.
Panel discussions and presentations will take place in McCosh and McAlpin Rehearsal Hall. Concerts will be held at the Taplin Auditorium at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day, and the Terrace Club will host a concert on Friday evening at 11:30 p.m. For a full schedule of events, visit http://music.princeton.edu/LITSK03.
Taw Hong Park, a doctoral student in Princeton's music department, worked with senior Christoph Geiseler, the undergraduate social chair, to organize this festival. Park also worked to coordinate the same event at Princeton in 2001.
The event is well-timed, as the art of electronic music and sound continues to change radically. Recently, many electronic artists have been able to move away from the huge production studios and produce music in their own homes or in smaller studios. Electronic music has also become increasingly interactive, with even participation from musician, listener and machine.
Electronic music also has a growing fan base, particularly among college-age people. The expansion of electronic technologies and the Internet, particularly with its file sharing capabilities, is the primary cause of its recent popularity.
On the topic of file sharing, Oliveros offer a statement that summarizes her own work and philosophy and the beauty of sound: "Music doesn't belong to anyone. It's something we participate in. We don't know the mystery of where it comes from."
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