*UB professorAbout Switch~
A new music ensemble for the 21st Century, the [Switch~ Ensemble]
is dedicated to the creation of new works for chamber ensemble: we bring bold
new acoustic, electroacoustic, and multimedia projects to life. At the core of
each performance is our commitment to the total integration of technology and
live musicians. We strive for compelling artistry achieved through the seamless
creation, production, and execution of new music, and believe that working
directly with composers—in a medium where the score is a point of departure
rather than a finish line—allows for new and thrilling musical possibilities.
[Switch~] contributes to the future of the genre by strongly
advocating for and commissioning the music of a new generation of emerging
young composers. We have enjoyed fruitful collaborations with both emerging and
established composers, with commissions and premieres of works by composers
including Anna-Louise Walton, Alican Çamci, Igor Santos, Katherine Young,
Stefano Gervasoni, Stefan Prins, Wojtek Blecharz, Anthony Vine, Rand Steiger,
Philippe Leroux, Timothy McCormack, Tonia Ko, James Bean, Matt Sargent,
Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Esaias Järnegard, Sivan Eldar, Julio Zúñiga,
Zeynep Toraman, Alexander Schubert, Adrien Trybucki, Elvira Garifzyanova,
Santiago Diez-Fischer, Lisa Streich, Anthony Pateras, and many others.
Recent engagements include performances and residencies at
Cornell, Bard College, University of Chicago, Ithaca College, Buffalo State, UC
Berkeley, the VIPA Festival (Spain),
Eastman School of Music, and Avaloch Farms Music Institute, as well as concerts
at the Image/Sound Festival, San Francisco Center for New Music, MATA Interval
Series, NYCEMF, Vanguard New Music Series at Kent State University, the Queens
New Music Festival, the CD release of Christopher Chandler’s Smoke and Mirrors on
the SEAMUS label, and more.
Student Works
Thomas Little,
Signed Distance Field - Flute, clarinet (doubling bass), saxophone (alto + tenor), violin, violoncello, percussion, piano (doubling celesta)
Computer graphics use the “signed distance field” (or “signed distance
function”) to efficiently render 2D images in 3D space, and blur said
images at increasing distances. In a musical adaptation of this
function, the “image” is a central E Major
triad, and the function uses various musical “yardsticks”—including the
circle of fifths, the harmonic series, and distance in quarter-tones―to
determine seven discrete levels of “blurriness,” indicated by dynamic
level.
Signed Distance Field moves through a warped, funhouse-mirror
version of tonality as it navigates and juxtaposes these
dynamically-determined pitch fields to bring various sonorities into and
out of focus.
Brian Caswell
Jonathan Rainous,
Homeward - Flute, clarinet, saxophone (soprano + baritone), violin, violoncello, percussion, piano.
A fusion of non-classical styles using classically-enabled musical form and recombinant musical techniques to evoke a half-remembered roadtrip playlist.
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