We called it utopia (2019)
for piano/percussion quartet and electronics (10 min.) View Score
We called it utopia explores hybrid spaces between instruments and electronics, electronics as instruments, stretched presents and frozen pasts. Written for two pianos and pitched percussion, the electronics provide gateways for the different instruments to queer their categories and abilities: the piano’s double-escape mechanism is electronically reproduced to allow for extremely fast repetitions on the glockenspiel, or the vibraphone’s motor vibrations are transposed as very slow amplitude modulation onto the piano.
The text by writer Göksu Kunak a.k.a. Gucci Chunk, projected at the end of the piece, points to a queer utopia, registering questions around normative reproduction within a dystopian atmosphere.
There was death during the night
and thankfully
no births took place.
We called it utopia.
Premiered by Ensemble Yarn/Wire at DiMenna Center for Classical Music New York City (May 2019). Further performances by Kwadrofonik at Sacrum Profanum Festival Krakow (September 2019).
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New York, USA
May 4, 2019 | DiMenna Center