WESTERN FRONT – Sociable Music

Description:

Martin Bartlett performed a concert in the Grand Luxe Hall with collaborators Iain Macanulty, Arne Eigenfeldt, Dennis Burke, Mark Douglas, Kenneth Newby, and Peter Hannan. The event marked a send-off for Bartlett, who was soon departing for a six-month residency at the STEIM Institute in Amsterdam.

The program opened with “Amsterdam Variations,” a solo microtonal composition for Buchla 400 synthesizer. This was followed by the debut of Sociable Music, a collaboratively composed piece by Bartlett, Arne Eigenfeldt, and Iain Macanulty. Scored for three instrumentalists and three computer-controlled synthesizers, the work processes live instrumental input in real time, with each gesture triggering a cascade of unpredictable sonic outcomes. For the performance, Bartlett was joined by Dennis Burke, Mark Douglas, and Kenneth Newby.

The concert also featured variations on gamelan music. All performers were charter members of the Vancouver Gamelan, a group formed following the 1986 Institute of Javanese and Balinese Music at Simon Fraser University.

Presented in partnership with Simon Fraser University.

Audio documentation is available upon request

In black and white, four performers sit, two facing and two turned away. Parts of a few computers are visible.

In black and white, in the spotlight, sits a performer at an audio controller, wearing a long-sleeved plaid shirt. Three other performers sit around them with various keyboards, controllers and computers.

In black and white, a seated performer looks over at a keyboard. Another stands with their back turned, at a table with many plugs and sockets. Amongst them are many wires and computers.

Related Events

1986

Du Maurier International Jazz Festival

Captions:

Sociable Music, photo documentation, Nov 23, 1986.
Concert by Room, photo documentation, Dec 15, 1986.
Martin Bartlett and Kenneth Newby performing in Sociable Music, photo documentation, Nov 23, 1986.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.