REACT
Ben Johansen composer
Russell Pinkston composer
Margaret Schedel composer
David Taddie composer
Francesca Arnone flutes
Mikylah Myers violin
Violinist Mikylah Myers and flutist Francesca Arnone perform diverse electroacoustic pieces on their first collaborative album REACT, released on Ravello Records. The works on this album demonstrate well the potential range of electroacoustic music in facilitating both experimental and traditional compositional ideas. The featured composers explore new ways of creating and organizing sound, and as performed with either computer or other interactive electronics, the violin and flute help construct unique sonic landscapes.
Interact and React, composed by Ben Johansen for flute, violin and interactive computer, is unique for its incorporation of non-instrumental sounds (such as mouth noises, whistling, stomping, snapping, and more) into its musical landscape, and has three basic parts: two deeply abstract outer sections, with an intervening period of fierce counterpoint between the flute and violin. Margaret Schedel’s Partita, Perihelion for violin and interactive computer most clearly blends traditional ideas with electroacoustic ones, as the electronics grow out of the solo violin part. The titles of its three movements refer to Baroque dance suite forms, and also paraphrase, if not outright quote, Bach’s solo violin partitas. Luminosity, David Taddie’s flute and electroacoustic piece, is one of the more traditional experimental works on the album, using synthesized sounds that can be traced back to electronic music from the 1960s and 70s.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Interact | Ben Johansen | Francesca Arnone, flute; Mikylah Myers, violin; Ben Johansen, computer | 6:38 |
| 02 | Luminosity | David Taddie | Francesca Arnone, flute | 6:49 |
| 03 | Vox Clamantis | Russell Pinkston | Francesca Arnone, flute; Mikylah Myers, violin | 8:21 |
| 04 | Partita, Perihelion: I. Allamande | Margaret Schedel | Mikylah Myers, violin | 3:16 |
| 05 | Partita, Perihelion: II. Sarabande. Adagio | Margaret Schedel | Mikylah Myers, violin | 6:04 |
| 06 | Partita, Perihelion: III. Gigue. Adagio | Margaret Schedel | Mikylah Myers, violin | 6:13 |
| 07 | Category 5 (Echoes) | David Taddie | Francesca Arnone, flute/alto flute/piccolo; Mikylah Myers, violin | 9:21 |
| 08 | Lizamander | Russell Pinkston | Francesca Arnone, flute | 8:30 |
| 09 | Qfwfq (A Voice, a Point of View) | Margaret Schedel | Francesca Arnone, alto flute; Mikylah Myers, violin | 8:51 |
| 10 | React | Ben Johansen | Francesca Arnone, flute; Mikylah Myers, violin | 7:08 |
The performers and composers gratefully acknowledge the following support:
Baylor University Research Committee
Baylor University Vice Provost for Research
West Virginia University Faculty Senate Research Grant
West Virginia University Big 12 Faculty Fellowship Grant
University of Texas Big 12 Faculty Fellowship Grant
Baylor University Big 12 Faculty Fellowship Grant
Baylor University Summer Sabbatical Grant
West Virginia University College of Creative Arts, Office of the Dean
West Virginia University School of Music
INTERACT
Recorded 2014 at Baylor University in Waco, TX
Recorded by Ben Johansen
Produced by Stephen Bolech
REACT
Recorded 2014 at Baylor University in Waco, TX
Recorded and Produced by Stephen Bolech
LUMINOSITY; VOX CLAMANTIS; PARTITA, PERIHELION; CATEGORY 5 (ECHOES); LIZAMANDER; and QFWFQ
Recorded in 2015 at West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV
Recorded and Produced by Mark A. Benincosa II
Executive Producer Bob Lord
A&R Chris Robinson
Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Mixing & Mastering Nate Hunter
Art & Production Director Brett Picknell
Graphic Designer Emily Roulo
Marketing Specialist Morgan MacLeod
Artist Information
Ben Johansen
Ben Johansen is an interdisciplinary composer fascinated with exploring new ways of creating and organizing sound, designing aesthetically compelling visuals, and working with small electronics to construct installation art. He challenges himself to 1) constantly expand the limits of performers and observers and 2) design atmospheres that foster improvisation and indeterminacy within boundaries that are accessible to participants. Teaching is a passion of his that accompanies his desire to continually learn, create, and research. Ben's schooling has greatly influenced his interests. He completed his Bachelor’s in Music Education and Master’s in Music Composition at Baylor University where he is currently employed. Ben earned his Ph.D. from University of North Texas in Music with an emphasis in Composition, a Specialization in Computer Media and a minor in Installation Art.
David Taddie
David Taddie, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, spent his teenage and young adult years playing in rock bands, serving as a church organist, arranging and performing on radio and TV commercials, finally beginning his formal studies in music theory and composition at Cleveland State University at the age of 20. He received his BA and MM from CSU, where he studied composition with Bain Murray, Rudolph Bubalo, and Edwin London. From 1985-1992, he served as pianist with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. He also composed for, and performed with, the New Music Associates in Cleveland, performed as a duo-piano team with his wife, Karen, and was active as a theory and piano teacher. After a decade of working as a freelance composer, performer, and music teacher, he moved to Boston in 1992 to attend Harvard University where he received his Ph.D., studying composition with Donald Martino, Bernard Rands, and Mario Davidovsky.
Russell Pinkston
Russell Pinkston (b. 1949) currently resides in Austin TX, where he is Professor of Music Composition and Director of Electronic Music Studios at The University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College (BA 1975) and Columbia University (MA 1979, DMA 1984), where he studied composition with Jon Appleton, Jack Beeson, Mario Davidovsky, George Edwards, and Chou Wen-chung.
Margaret Anne Schedel
Margaret Anne Schedel is a composer and cellist specializing in the creation and performance of ferociously interactive media whose works have been performed throughout the United States and abroad. While working towards a DMA in music composition at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, her interactive multimedia opera, A King Listens, premiered at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center and was profiled by apple.com. She holds a certificate in Deep Listening with Pauline Oliveros and has studied composition with Mara Helmuth, Cort Lippe and McGregor Boyle. She is a joint author of Cambridge Press’s Electronic Music and recently edited an issue of Organised Sound on the aesthetics of sonification. Her work has been supported by the Presser Foundation, Centro Mexicano para la Música y les Artes Sonoras, and Meet the Composer. She has been commissioned by the Princeton Laptop Orchestra the percussion ensemble Ictus, and the reACT duo.
Francesca Arnone
Francesca Arnone is an active flute and piccolo soloist, chamber musician, and clinician. An avid traveler, she enjoys pursuing this passion through music and has performed in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, in such venues as St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Conservatory of Madrid, Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, Split Academy of Music in Croatia, and the Chicago Public Library.
Mikylah Myers
Violinist Mikylah Myers' performances have been called “energetic and virtuosic” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and “captivating” by Boulder, Colorado’s Daily Camera. An award-winning chamber musician, Myers is the violin professor at West Virginia University and Coordinator of the String Area. She was formerly concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony in Durango, Colorado, and a member of the Moores Piano Trio in Houston, Texas, which was the silver prize winner at the 2000 Carmel Chamber Music Competition. During her time in Houston, Myers regularly performed with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera. She was also a violinist with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Spain, and was a 19-year member of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon.