Using movement as expressive musical interface to unlock microtonal sound possibilities
The concert with short discussions will explore motion and amplitude detection as
means of enharmonic and microtonal expression. Live and audiovisual works will
be presented, which explore a different way these continuous controls can be used
to create interesting harmonic relationships.
Program
push.pull/edge (2025) audiovisual media using ice sound to control intonation
*interlude* (toe)Looping with sound control
[ice]orchesis (2025) audiovisual media using movement tracking of figure skating to
control intonation
...compression... (2025) audiovisual poem
*interlude* (toe)Looping with movement control
[patch]chorus (2025) audiovisual media using both movement tracking and ice
sound
Alyssa Aska
Composition
Alyssa is fascinated with the architecture of music, both spatially and temporally. She composes works which explore extremes in time and space, using rigid proportions to generate forms in acoustic works and exploring the unpredictable duration and lack of control in gamified works. This is closely tied to her compositional style, which is concerned with a delicate balance between elements of functional form and elements of pure aesthetic purpose. As much structure as possible, as many ornaments as necessary (and vice versa). She believes in a careful balance between craft and emotion in her music. Her passions include the study of ancient cultures and Stargate SG-1, both of which have influenced her life path and compositional aesthetic.
She studied composition in the United States with Robert Kyr, David Crumb, and Jeffrey Stolet, in Canada with Robert Pritchard, Keith Hamel, and David Eagle, and in Graz, Austria with Marko Ciciliani and Klaus Lang. Alyssa’s work and research are performed worldwide at various concerts and festivals such as Wien Modern, Ars Electronica Linz, Forum Wallis, ICMC, EMS, Impuls, Darmstadt Summer Courses, Musikprotokoll, Tonraum21, ComposIt, Mirkofest Helsinki, Microtonal Festival Prague, and many others. She was selected for participation at many academies and workshops such as WasteLAnd Academy (2019), CrossROADS Festival (2019), Kalv Festival Academy (2020), and reMusik.org (2021). She was also selected for performance at the Gamified Audiovisual Performance and Performance Practice (Gappp) Symposium 2019. Alyssa is a founding member of the Graz facere collective, which presents every year concerts in various formats, and is a current member of the Graz collective Die Andere Saite. Her scores are published by Babel Scores and Verlag Zeitschleife.