Sound
Travels is a Toronto Island annual event that includes
outdoor
performances, SOUNDwalks, artist talks, the Sign
Waves summer installation
series and an 8-channel electroacoustic concert. 2004 marks the
6th year
of Sound Travels and the 5th on Toronto Island and includes internationally
renowned performers and composers from the UK, France, Denmark,
the USA and Canada.
Sound
Travels 2004 begins at 2 pm on July 25, with the opening
of the Sign Waves installation series at the St. Andrew-by-the-Lake
Church on Toronto Island. Artists Bentley
Jarvis, Stefan Rose and
Don Sinclair will be on-hand
to give a guided tour at 1 pm Admission is Pay What You Can (suggested
donation $5)
Thursday August 5
Composition Workshop
by Kevin Austin
Charles Street Video 7-10 PM - $35
This is a workshop for those who wish to
explore in greater depth and detail how 'hearing' functions in
relation to materials presented. The introductory portion will
present some models of how sound(s) are perceived together and
individually, and based upon these concepts -- those of Auditory
Scene Analysis, participants' work will be examined with regards
their technical and communicative impact. (Full
Details)
Friday August
6
SOUNDwalk
Centre Island Pavilion (near the
ferry dock)
7 pm - FREE
In the evening on Centre Island, what do
you hear? The sounds of Centreville are diminishing and the sounds
of the trees take over and if you focus on listening there will
be many other surprises. Toronto Island offers a wealth of sounds
that have fueled the imagination of many artists over the years.
Nadene Theriault-Copeland
will guide you through some of the interesting sonic pathways
found on Centre Island on a Friday evening. SOUNDwalk begins at
the Pavilion on Centre Island (near the ferry docks).
Ghettoblaster
Ensemble
Performance, right after SOUNDwalk
- FREE
The Ghettoblaster Ensemble is a mobile
sound unit designed to perform sound art wherever they find it
necessary. TGE consists of 8 musicians and a conductor. The compositions
are made especially for the ghetto blaster and for this constellation.
This unique ensemble is a development of both the classical electroacoustic
loudspeaker orchestra, and the idea of works for multi speaker
setup. Friday's
performance will include "Streams of Whispers" by Darren
Copeland, "ZOOLECTRICS" by Pelle Skovmand, "Condenser"
by Sune T. B. Nielsen, and "Hotegpon" by Adachi Tomomi
Artist Talk
by Kevin Austin
St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Church 8
pm - Pay What You Can
Flight through the liberation of sound
- an introduction to spatialization and electroacoustics by Kevin
Austin (Concordia University, Montreal)
Sound cannot be seen or touched, yet it is deeply felt. The last
century has witnessed many rapid transformations, among them being
the nature and extent of our daily contact with sound(s) -- no
longer only the sounds of our immediate family and neighborhood,
but of the world and world cultures present and past.
In this introduction to spatialization and electroacoustics, Kevin
Austin will explore hearing and cajole the listeners' ears to
hear and and around space in ways not before realized.
Through a tour of compositions created for pure listening -- there
are no live performers -- this sonic survey will attempt to provide
historical and cultural contexts, from the transformation of a
single drop of water in 1955, to a sonic evocation -- through
a mambo -- of the cubist movement, and a brief listening to the
ultrasmall soundscape barnacles breathing.
With this flight through the liberation of sound, an underlying
theme of the presentation is how the mind (re)creates images with
nothing more than some slightly moving air. Composers and poets
use many means to explore, communicate, sometimes quite seriously,
and sometimes in a much lighter vein. These sounds, abstract and
well known in the form of tunes, tone colors, nature, words, and
collaged soundscapes are parts of the broader pallet.
The works will be presented in an eight-channel surround sound
format, where the loudspeakers are not "loud" but are
used to present the artists' voices in a clearer, immersive environment.
Sunday August
8
Barry
Prophet and Janice Pomer
perform live
Centre Island Ferry Docks, Pavilion
12:30 pm - FREE
A site-specific performance blending the arts
of sculpture, music and dance. Performances will include: "Site
and Sound" - a playful piece combining simple movement with
traditional and non-traditional instruments, such as the Australian
bull-roarer, and plastic hoses; "Glass Lithophones"
- two pieces that explore the textural, rhythmic, and melodic
properties of glass created and performed on Barry Prophet's micro
tonally tuned glass lithophones; and "Bamboo Quiver"
- a piece that includes the electronic Hand Sonic, 'Water Piano'
- an electro acoustic virtual instrument Barry created combining
elements of water and bowed glass - and a piece of sonic body
art (the Bamboo Quiver) created for Janice Pomer by Barry Prophet
which consists of forty pieces of 5' long bamboo lengths woven
together at the centre with jute.
SOUNDwalk
Centre Island Pavilion (near the
ferry dock)
1:15 pm - FREE
The cacophony of the many voices found on a Saturday afternoon
on Centre Island, the ferry horn sounding as they close the gates,
and as you move away from the crowds, what sonic delights will
you find? Nadene Theriault-Copeland
will guide you through some of the interesting sonic pathways
found on Centre Island on a Saturday afternoon. SOUNDwalk begins
at the Pavilion on Centre Island (near the ferry docks) following
the performances by Barry Prophet and Janice Pomer.
Ghettoblaster
Ensemble
Performance,
right after SOUNDwalk - FREE
Location TBA at the end of the SOUNDwalk.
The Ghettoblaster Ensemble is a mobile sound unit designed to
perform sound art wherever 
they
find it necessary. TGE consists of 8 musicians and a conductor.
The compositions are made especially for the ghetto blaster and
for this constellation. This unique ensemble is a development
of both the classical electroacoustic loudspeaker orchestra, and
the idea of works for multi speaker setup . Saturday afternoon's
performance will include: "HORN FRAGMENT" by Jakob Brandt-Pedersen,
"he had never before watched a woman cry without feeling
responsible" by Yasuhiro Otani, "Bells of Centreville"
by Darren Copeland, "Toronto Island soundscape piece
jam 8 CD's" by the Ghettoblaster Ensemble, "Permutations
at a pedestrians crossing" by Ture Larsen, and "Cadencia
Por Un Futura Major" by Jakob Riis.
Sound Travels Octaphonic Concert
St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Church 3 pm - $10
at the door
call 416-910-7231 or e-mail
nadene@ca.inter.net for
advance tickets
New Adventures in Sound Art will celebrate 6
years of Sound Travels events in Toronto by presenting an international
array of music from some the finest 
electroacoustic
composers in the world. The concert will include world premieres
"Hastening toward the Half Moon" by Elainie
Lillios and "Toronto Island Sound Mix" by Darren
Copeland as well as "Hurricane Ridge" by UK artist Ambrose
Field, "Migration Pétrée" by German
composer Hans Tutschku,
"Indigo" by Montreal artist Marcelle
Deschênes and "Zheng Etudes, version 1" by
Montreal composer Kevin Austin.
All soundworks will be presented using an 8-channel array of speakers
enveloping the audience in lush immersive sound
worlds.
The finale will include "Tonerain"by
Tobias Kirstein, "Falling Drones" by Jørgen Teller,
"How do you Like Your Noise ? vs. 2.2" by Søren
Raagaard and the world premiere of "Balsteroid Convection"
by John Oswald, created especially
for and performed by the Ghettoblaster Ensemble with funding from
the Ontario Arts Council.
Sign Waves installations will run from
5 - 6pm on August 8th.
