Work created in collaboration with Josiah Boothby (horn).
Electronic layer
The electronic layer was created in a series of ambisonic recording sessions, in collaboration with Seattle-based horn player Josiah Boothby. Josiah and I visited several indoor and outdoor spaces throughout Washington state. With the use of the Soundfield microphones and ambisonic recording techniques we were able to fully take advantage of the unique acoustic properties of these spaces. During these on-site recording sessions, Josiah walked through the spaces and improvised several short sound sequences, utilizing extended horn techniques and right hand coloration. We listened to the responses of these spaces and looked for the most acoustically interesting paths. This original sound material was further processed and combined into a sequence of soundscapes.
Live performance
Minotaur gives the soloist an opportunity to fully demonstrate their virtuoso skills. It requires both imagination and courage to freely approach the pre-composed material, and to create a unique conversation between the pre-recorded soundscapes and the performance space.
The formative principle of this piece is heterophony combined with "directed" (guided) improvisation and the creative use of extended horn techniques. The written score is a selection of meeting points between the pre-recorded surround sound material and the live performance. The soloist is encouraged to wander off the musical material written in the score. The player should enrich it by freely utilizing right hand coloration, articulation changes, microtonal melismas and ornaments, while carefully listening to and interpreting the responses from the performance space. If possible, the soloist should walk through the space and at times become invisible, haunting the perimeter of the audience and occasionally leaving the space enclosed by the speaker array.
Minotaur was premiered at the "Warsaw Autumn" Festival in 2005 (Henryk Kaliński - horn). However both the instrumental and electronic part were thoroughly revised in 2011 in preparations for a concert performance at the University of Southern California, organized by the USC Polish Music Center. This concert performance has been included on Ewa Trębacz's monographic CD (2013).
CONCERT PERFORMANCES
| November 10, 2018 | SPLICE Festival II, Concert #4. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| June 11, 2018 | Mostly Modern Festival 2018, Chamber Concert #2, Elm Hall, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| August 3, 2017 | "Nonsequitur presents: Thea Farhadian + Ewa Trębacz", Wayward Music Series, Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center, Seattle | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| June 21, 2017 | New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival 2017, Abrons Art Center in New York | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| October 2, 2016 | "Digital Immersion", MSU Multimedia Series, Montana State University in Bozeman | Michael Nelson, horn |
| February 20, 2016 | Seattle Modern Orchestra Benefit Concert 2016, Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| September 30, 2015 | 41st International Computer Music Conference, Lyric Theatre at the Murchison Performing Arts Center, UNT Campus, Denton, TX | Heather Suchodolski, horn |
| April 22, 2015 | 27th International Festival of Kraków Composers, concert of the Electroacoustic Music Studio of the Kraków Academy of Music, The Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art | Paweł Cal, horn |
| November 16, 2014 | Constellation, Chicago: Frequency Series. "Open Borders Generation" concert tour | Jancie Philippus, horn |
| November 14, 2014 | University of Louisville, School of Music. "Open Borders Generation" concert tour | Jancie Philippus, horn |
| November 12, 2014 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Open Borders Generation" concert tour | Jancie Philippus, horn |
| April 20, 2013 | Northwest Horn Symposium 2013, Montana State University, Bozeman | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| January 10, 2012 | Classical Tuesdays in Old Town: Wired for Sound, Tacoma, Washington | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| November 16, 2011 | The Last Minute - an evening of electroacoustic music and digital video, Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center, Seattle | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| March 26, 2011 | Polish Music: The New Generation. With guest artist, David Lynch. Event organized by the Polish Music Center at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| December 8, 2010 | Ewa Trębacz's monographic concert within the festival "Portaits of Composers" (Portrety Kompozytorów), Warsaw. Event organized by the Polish Composers' Union | Henryk Kowalewicz, horn |
| March 11, 2006 | Horn recital, Brechemin Auditorium, University of Washington School of Music, Seattle | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| October 27, 2005 | DXARTS concert, Meany Hall, University of Washington, Seattle | Josiah Boothby, horn |
| September 20, 2005 | 48th International Contemporary Music Festival "Warsaw Autumn", Warsaw | Henryk Kaliński, horn (live) | Josiah Boothby, horn (tape) |