18th SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
Troy Swanson Project
with Brent Arnold, Dave Brogan & Zeke Keeble
Friday, February 14 · Polestar Music Gallery
1412 18th Ave. at E Union · 8 PM · $5-15 sliding scale suggested donation
Corpus Callosum
Troy Swanson has been experimenting with electronics in music for nearly 20 years, beginning with analog synthesizers and more recently with his specifically designed high-tension string apparatuses known as corpus callosums, which are fundamentally acoustic but are amplified through specially designed amplifiers incorporating modified rotating speakers.
In 1986 Swanson studied electronics with an emphasis in robotics while also pursuing electronic music and working with special lighting and stage settings to incorporate with his electronic soundscapes. From 1989–91 he studied composition at Cornish College of the Arts with an emphasis in electronic music. He also studied mixed media performance and prepared piano. He then spent three years as resident composer for the Sally Sykes dance company and collaborated with other choreographers. From 1990 until recently he was apprenticed with the German-born artist Trimpin, and then became his primary musical instrument fabricator, including on “Liquid Percussion,” the “Fire Organ,” the “Vorsetzer” (automated piano designed to play the compositions of Conlon Nancarrow), and an automated guitar sculpture (“if VI were IX”) for the Experience Music Project.
After turning increasingly to improvisation from 1992, and then departing from the use of only analog synthesizers, Swanson wished, although without a piano, to continue studying prepared piano, so he began experimenting with piano strings and invented the corpus callosum (named after the fibrous tissue linking the two hemispheres of the brain). He has collaborated with Brent Arnold, Matt Chamberlain, Lori Goldston, Brad Hauser, Bill Horist, Eyvind Kang, Aiko Shimada, Jon Brion, Eric Ross, Reggie Watts, The Young Composers Collective, and many others. He also incorporates original film into his performances. He supplements his music by working offshore with sonar for the seafloor mapping industry.
Musical textures, says Swanson, will range from percussive to cacophonous, and from droning to melodic. Troy will be joined by Brent Arnold, Dave Brogan, and Zeke Keeble, all performing on corpus callosum.
18th Seattle Improvised Music Festival
