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Minotaur

Josiah Boothby and Ewa Trebacz
Josiah Boothby and Ewa Trębacz
Minotaur, for horn and surround sound, Ewa Trębacz (2005, revised 2011) 

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)
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