Texas Computer Musicians' Network Comes to Oberlin on Thursday, February 24, 8 P.M. in Warner Concert Hall Story by Claire Chase
			Thursday's performance will feature live vocals by composer/soprano Larisa Montenaro. Five years ago, a group of composition students from the University of North Texas at Austin formed with a vision to create concerts of electro-acoustic art music - a genre often branded esoteric and appreciated in academic isolation - in public places. Elementary schools, bars, and other non-traditional settings replaced the concert stage, hosting some of the country's hottest young compositional talent and developing a wide range of new audiences. The group quickly blossomed into a nationally-recognized, non-profit organization called the Texas Computer Musicians' Network. TCMN's members now work together each year to organize a variety of events, including concerts, lectures, workshops and sound installations, with the intention of educating the public about the possibilities of combining technology and music in the creation of art. Tom Lopez, visiting instructor of computer music and new media Local audiences will have a chance to hear one such innovation on Thursday, February 24, at 8 p.m. in Warner Concert Hall, in a program featuring electronic music of TCMN members Larisa Montanaro, James Phelps, Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Andrew Walters and Tom Lopez. The performance is free and open to the public. The Program: The program will open with Larisa Montenaro's "Deep Pockets." Montenaro, soprano and composer from the University of North Texas, describes the image behind this composition: "Roll into your favorite bar, grab a pint of brew (don't forget to throw some change into the tip jar), and shoot some pool. Slice the three into the side and put some backspin on the four - you've never heard the game sound like this before!" James Phelps' "ATALLMIRROR: academix" is a computer-music mix which, on the original EP, follows an "acousticmix," "soloelectronic mix" and "quartetmix." Phelps, associate professor of music at Northern Illinois University, elaborates on his compositional process: "The entire piece is in the form of an EP and was commissioned by jazz/fusion guitarist and Blue Note recording artist Fareed Haque. Its ancestors are jazz improvisation and techno-music re-mixing genres. "Academix" derives from materials of all three, live-performed mixes combined with computer-music materials, some of which resulted from analysis/re-synthesis of the live materials. The entire EP will soon be available on the Thirteenth label and will be electronically distributed." "Affirmation" by Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner was created in the composer's home studio utilizing ProTools, SoundEdit 16, StudioVision Pro and SoundHack for the generation and mixing of all sound files. "A spring of defeat, the loss of yet another job, the receipt of one rejection letter too many, the theft of a car stereo, the theft of the National Endowment for the Arts by the United States government, the theft of monies for the arts in nations around the world...We need some applause (I need some applause!), some fanfare, some bells and whistles. "Affirmation" provides this. Be careful about the ending, dear listeners - it is not over until the lady sings!" writes Hinkle-Turner. "In-Ex," by Andrew Walters, was commissioned by Scott Wyatt for the 40th anniversary of the Experimental Music Studios at the University of Illinois. Walters, a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois, says, "The piece uses the sounds of machines whether they be industrial, musical (pianos) or human (heartbeats, breathing). The piece addresses the inherent causality found in mechanical exertion. This is manifest in gestures that appear on a local and global level." "Hollow Ground II" was composed by Tom Lopez, visiting instructor of computer music and new media at Oberlin, in March 1996, and has been performed over 20 times, most notably at the Future Moves Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and with the Sharir Dance Company in Austin, Texas. Thursday's performance will feature live vocals by composer/soprano Larisa Montenaro.
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