Hybrid score blends notation and guided improvisation.

commissioned and premiered by Figmentum

live recording, June 14, 2019, San Diego, CA

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Daria Binkowski, flute

Kyle Rowan, clarinet

Ania Sundstrom, mezzo-soprano

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Program Notes

The score of April Earth includes sections that are fully notated, fully improvised, and hybrids of the two. The piece gives performers the opportunity to achieve intense and tight exchanges. They take turns filling social and sonic roles defined in the performance notes (“Soundbody,” “Counterbody,” and “Soundspace”). As players lead, shadow, and envelop each other sonically, they also respond to poetic prompts such as “Primordial Worm,” “Glacial Push,” or “Kaleidoscope Blooms.”

 

The title came after a particularly long winter in Wisconsin. By April, spring was still only on its way, but once it finally shook the winter out, the fecundity was amazing. The earth’s energies, at once quiet and explosive, all strive for vitality.