CelloPiece

for amplified solo performer

5'

 

2015

Premiered by composer, Nov. 29, 2015, Andrea Clearfield's Salon, Philadelphia, PA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CelloPiece is a devised music-theater work for amplified solo performer. The movement material is derived from the physical posture and gestures of cello playing, but the solid presence of a cello, which would shield the body and contextualize these movements, is missing. This absence amplifies the vulnerability of performance and allows the gestures to be organized both compositionally (as though they were musical material) and narratively. The sounds of movement, breath, and vocalization are picked up by four contact mics taped to the skin, and are then minimally processed and amplified.