Sonic Generator

Last night I went to Georgia Tech's new music ensemble's (called Sonic Generator) first major performance, which was held at the Woodruff Arts Center, the same place that the ASO plays (albeit in a smaller venue). Granted they've had less prestigious performances up to this point over at Georgia Tech, but this was their first time being supported by the big dogs, so to speak (evidently this is going to be a regular thing now). The first time I saw Sonic Generator was over a year ago, and the concert was really good, so I was eager to see them again this time.

The main focus with this ensemble is doing pieces that involve some sort of technology (go figure at a tech school, huh?). The first piece was a minimalist piece for two amplified crotale sets and was pretty neat. The second featured effected flute and reactive video. The third was a spoken word piece for three people drinking out of/playing with wine glasses. The fourth piece was easily the best...a piece for solo maracas and electronics. The fifth piece was a movement from Michael Gordon's Light is Calling, this one for solo cello and video.

And the final piece was my least favorite, unfortunately by my former teacher Louis Andriessen, for small ensemble and video (called New Math(s)). The worst part about this last piece is that it was also featured on the last concert I saw them put on (over a year ago!), and I didn't like it then either, but whatever... Don't get me wrong, I love Louis' music, but this piece is not very representative of what he can do.

After the show, some nerd(ier) tech people set up a showroom of different music technology-related projects they had been working on. Some were more interesting than others, but it was still neat checking it out. Overall, a fun night. Looking forward to the next concert (let's just hope they don't do the same Andriessen piece again!).