October 18, 2023

Day 1 -
9pm



1345 Ave. Lalonde, Montréal, QC H2L 5A9

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Roxanne Lacasse (ca)


Roxanne Melissa Guerra-Lacasse, born on a Wednesday, March 30, 1994, is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Quebec, near the Metropolis, navigating between two cultures: Quebecois and Mexican. Throughout her journey, the arts have been at the core of her career. She pursued studies in theater at Laval University and electroacoustic composition at the Montreal Conservatory of Music. The theme of love has been a significant source of inspiration for her, serving as a driving force behind her creative endeavors.

Following her studies, she dedicated herself to her non-profit organization, Angle Psy, which she co-founded with the aim of raising awareness among young people on topics related to mental health and rape culture. Her non-profit organization has garnered numerous awards and distinctions in the realm of entrepreneurship.

Simultaneously, she continues to work on her musical projects, striving to enhance her overall artistic body of work.

Programme

La Berceuse de la veuve (2020-23) 10’15”

«La Berceuse de la Veuve» originated from a theatrical piece I had written as part of my dramatic writing course during my Bachelor's degree in theater at Laval University. The basic concept revolved around the quest for Eternal Love. To achieve this, the portrayal of my secondary characters drew inspiration from the characteristics of stones that I personally associated with history, while my protagonist was inspired by music, which, for me, is connected to the vibrational fields existing in all forms.

After completing the writing, I translated my piece into Spanish to stage it in Costa Rica as part of my "Proyecto Final" course. I conducted several workshops on sound research with my actors, but I felt that there was a missing dimension to my work. After my stay in Costa Rica, I studied electroacoustic composition at the Conservatory to further develop my musical skills. During my second year, I composed music for this piece I had written, focusing my research on ritualistic music. I primarily expressed this composition using stones and minerals, as well as other materials I consider ritualistic, such as guitar strings, chimes, air, water, etc.

I wanted to take the work even further, so during a creative residency between Prim and Code d'accès, I worked on the spatialization of my piece to provide the audience with an additional dimension to the sonic experience. In this sense, my piece aims to be a multidimensional and sensory experience. I look forward to sharing the spatialization of the fruit of my efforts in this space with you.

Rocío Cano Valiño (ar)


Rocío CANO VALIÑO - born in Buenos Aires, Argentina – is a composer and interior designer. Rocío’s musical production is dedicated to instrumental, mixed and electroacoustic pieces. She is a member of the artistic committee of the Ensemble Orbis, which is based in Lyon and she co-founded. Rocío’s music was performed by ensembles such as: Proxima Centauri, HANATSU mirror, Paramirabo, Ensemble Orbis, Ensemble Ars Nova, Duo PARCOURS, among others...

Rocío is pursuing her Master’s in Contemporary Composition at the CNSMD in Lyon (France), where she studies with François Roux. She also takes lessons with Martín Matalon and Luca Antignani. She did an international mobility at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz (Austria) with Franck Bedrossian. Rocío obtained a DNSPM in composition at the CNSMDL in Lyon, a degree in musicology at the University Lumière Lyon 2, a Diploma of Musical Studies (DEM) in electroacoustic composition with Stéphane Borrel at the CRR in Lyon. In Argentina, she studied composition with Demian Rudel Rey.

She has received various commissions: Aide à l’écriture du Ministère de la Culture [FR]; France Musique “Création Mondiale”, residency at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) and premiered at the Festival Présences 2020 at the Maison de la Radio [FR]; Fondo Nacional de las Artes [AR]; Studio Césaré CNCM [FR]; Ibermúsicas [AR-Latin America]; Bahía[in]sonora Festival [AR]; SACEM [FR]; OARA [FR] …

Her works have received distinctions from: Destellos Foundation [AR], Musicworks [CA], TRINAC UNESCO [AR], Banc d'Essai GRM [FR], KLANG! [FR], Exhibitronic [FR], Rampazzi Prize [IT], Marcelle Deschênes Prize [CA], Métamorphoses [BE], TRIMARG [AR], Luigi Russolo Award [FR-ES], among others. Rocío’s compositions have been selected and performed in various festivals around the world.

In 2017, the label Resterecords released her first monographic album “Tâches”. Rocío's music is published by Babel Scores, Score Follower, Musiques & Recherches, Monochrome Vision, Taukay Edizioni Musicali and Phas.e. La Lettre du Musicien published her "Portrait double vie" written by Antoine Pecqueur in the "Architecture" edition in 2020.

Website

Program 

Astérion (2018) 8’22”

Astérion is an acousmatic piece inspired by the story “The House of Asterion” by Borges. The story describes the life of the Minotaur named Asterion who lives in an immense palace (the Labyrinth) composed of such a tangle of rooms and corridors that it is impossible for anyone other than his architect (Daedalus) to find his path. This is his home and his prison, is finite and at the same time infinite. He spends his days playing, running through stone galleries and pretending to sleep. Every nine years, nine men enter his house so Asterion release them from their suffering. One of them prophesied, at the moment of his death, that one day his redeemer would arrive (Theseus).

The acousmatic work leads the auditor through the labyrinth. In the last part, the musical concentration is accentuated linking this moment to the confrontation of Theseus with the Minotaur. The sigh of the end represents the last breath of Asterion.

The piece was awarded at the Banc d'Essai 2018 GRM (France) and it received the Teresa Rampazzi Prize 2018 (Italy), the Exhibitronic Prize 2018 (France), a special mention at the Métamorphoses Competition 2018 (Belgium) and the First Prize Destellos Foundation 2019 (Argentina).

Okno (2020) 10’

Okno is an electroacoustic stereo piece inspired by the story "Okno, el esclavo" by the Argentine writer Silvina Ocampo. In the tale, the idea of the real and the fictitious is always present, at the uncertain border between dream and reality. It also describes the invention of the imagination... The story considers both identity and art as vectors of expression.

Through this musical piece, the idea of the imaginary is expressed by sounds that may have a connotation already determined in themselves - an imaginary sound is then constructed outside its original context. Moreover, in the work, there are recordings of machine devices (tape recorders,...) questioning the relationship between human beings and automation. It is about this limit, where the tool ceases to have an entity of its own to become an element integrated in us? The fact that I manipulated the machine, doesn't that make it a human behavior?

[...] El ruido cambió de ritmo [...] que puedo imaginar. No hay nada que imaginar. Todo está ahí, ante los ojos y el oído que escucha [...] Yo, en la semioscuridad del cuarto, adivino las formas que me rodean [...]

The work was commissioned by Radio France for the radio broadcast "Création Mondiale" and was realized at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) in Paris, France. The premiere of the piece was on February 14, 2020 at the Festival Présences at the Maison de la Radio (Paris).

Okno received the 1st prize of the Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest 2020, the Marcelle Deschênes Prize 2020 (Canada), the 2nd Prize of the International Electroacoustic Composition Competition Klang! 2021 (France) and an Honorable Mention from the Iannis Xenakis International Electroacoustic Composition Competition 2021 (Greece).





Sarah Belle Reid (ca)
Sarah Belle Reid is a performer-composer who plays trumpet, modular synthesizer, and an ever-growing collection of handcrafted electronic instruments. Her unique musical voice explores the intersections between contemporary classical music, experimental and interactive electronics, visual arts, noise music, and improvisation. Often praised for her ability to transport audience members through vivid sonic adventures, Reid's sonic palette has been described as ranging from "graceful" and "danceable" all the way to "silk-falling-through-space," and "pit-full-of-centipedes" (San Francisco Classical Voice). Her debut album for trumpet and interactive electronics, "Underneath and Sonder," was released on pfMENTUM in October, 2019.

When watching Sarah Belle Reid perform live, one quickly notices that her trumpet is also unusual—the blinking lights and colorful wires attached to her horn are part of an electronic sensor-based interface she co-designed, called MIGSI. Reid was inspired to build MIGSI as a way of integrating her passion for technology, trumpet, and improvisation. She has been gaining international recognition for the work since it's initial development in 2015: “Reid has greatly extended the possibilities of the humble trumpet into new territory by the application of innovative sensing technology and sound processing.” (Sequenza 21). She frequently performs, leads workshops, and lectures at notable festivals, institutions, and conferences around the world, such as Moogfest, Stanford University, and the International Conference of New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME).

Reid's compositional practice draws influence from trumpeter-improviser Wadada Leo Smith (with whom she worked closely with while attending Calarts) and sound artist/electronic pioneer Pauline Oliveros, for their use of nontraditional notational practices and performance philosophies. In 2013–14, Sarah Belle Reid played trumpet in legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden's band while pursuing graduate studies at Calarts. Haden asked her to improvise on one of the songs, expressing that he didn't want to hear the "right" notes or chord changes. Instead, he said, "I want to hear your voice." Although simple on the surface, this moment deeply impacted Reid, inspiring her pursue her creative interests and curiosities without concern for whether they were the "right" choices, or how they would all fit together.

In Reid's improvisations and compositions, musical notation is often experimental and graphical—an invitation to explore a new sonic universe. This spirit for exploration has led her to collaborate with musicians and artists of all genres, including experimental electronic musician David Rosenboom, thereminist Carolina Eyck, and baroque-pop artist Julia Holter. Reid recorded trumpet and electronics on Holter's 2019 record Aviary, and recently wrapped up an extensive tour throughout North America, Europe, and Australia as a member of her band. Reid's own compositions have been premiered and performed by a number of renowned musicians, most recently pianist Vicki Ray and trumpeter Nate Wooley, and have received support and recognition from the Association of Canadian Women Composers and SOCAN. In 2017 her composition “Flux” for amplified percussion quartet won the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Percussion Quartet’s Next Wave Composer Initiative.
Reid holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from California Institute of the Arts, with a research focus on the development of new electronic instruments and musical notation systems as interfaces for exploring temporal perception and co-creation. She also has a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts, as well as a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. Reid is on faculty at Chapman University (Orange, CA) teaching music technology, as well as Temple University (Philadelphia, PA), where she teaches Physical Computing and Electronic Instrument Design.

Website


Program Manifold (2023) 25’

Manifold is an investigation into temporal perception and memory—tiny moments that seem to persist indefinitely; hazy, fragmented narratives that degrade and slip away; forgotten rituals and cherished traditions.

This work— for trumpet, voice, live processing & interactive electronics—explores the collection, manipulation and distortion of moments in time through the use of feedback, looping, chaotic circuits, and granular processing in combination with experimental trumpet and vocal techniques.

The result is a constantly churning and shape-shifting sound world that is at once intimate, relentless, playful, and surreal—frenetic improvisation, melting melodies, and punctuated silence.