The third Noiseborder/matralab performance (April 2, 2014) featured two larger works by Sandeep Bhagwati: Pardesi Pranchhi as well as several of his Miyagi Haikus. These pieces were really interesting to rehearse and perform; I kept discovering new things all through the process, and only wished that we could have spent even more time with them.

matralab presented Native Alien, a multi-channel interactive piece for an improvising soloist in an immersive interactive environment created by Sandeep Bhagwati and Navid Navab. Felix del Tredici was amazing on trombone, and the sound generated by the Native Alien system in response to Felix’s playing was rich and complex. Before the concert, Navid also set up an engaging array of interactive audio stations where audience members could create sound by manipulating toys and other small objects.

Sigi Torinus’s piece Prana was also a highlight for me, where a variety of breathy sounds from Felix’s trombone and Trevor Pittman’s clarinet triggered video clips of wisps and puffs of smoke against a black background. I added some audio processing to the trombone and clarinet.

The matralab collaboration was a bit of a challenge to organize, but the events were all successful artistically and well-attended. Thanks to everyone involved for all of their hard work!