Posts Tagged Zoomusicology

Modern Chants – Gannetry and Machair Flowers

On December 8, 2021 / Birdsong, Concerts, Zoomusicology / Leave a comment

I had a great time participating in the Modern Chants concert, organized by composer and violinist Ruta Vitkauskaite. I wrote two pieces, in collaboration with poet Dawn Wood, Gannetry, for Jo Nicholson (clarinet) and Ellie Cherry (live electronics), and Machair Flowers, for violist Katherine Wren. These are my most graphically notated score to date, and I really enjoyed the process. Gannetry uses graphic notation to convey specific gestural, timbral, textural & structural information about the piece — that is, there is a particular way I wanted the piece to sound, and the graphics were the best way to notate this — while Machair Flowers uses graphic notation to suggest kinds of sounds & networks, but the overall realization is very open. If you are interested in exploring either of these pieces, feel free to get in touch. I’d be happy to make a version for instrument/voice/ensemble. You can hear both these pieces, as well as great pieces by Ruta Vitkauskaite and Gemma McGregor and more poetry by Dawn Wood right here. (Machair Flowers starts at 51’21”, and Gannetry starts at 1h17’20”).

‘Hearken to the Hermit Thrush’

On February 22, 2021 / Birdsong, Research, Writing, Zoomusicology / Leave a comment

I’m pleased to share my most recent zoomusicology article, “‘Hearken to the Hermit Thrush: A Case Study in Interdisciplinary Listening,” which was published as part of the special research topic “Songs and Signs: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cultural Transmission and Inheritance in Human and Nonhuman Animals” in Frontiers in Psychology. In this article I discuss my own approach to zoomusicological inquiry, and use the example of how the hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) has been understood and discussed over the past 200 years to illustrate why interdisciplinary perspectives are essential for better understanding of animal songs. The full text is available for free here.

Bowheads, performed by the Kapten Trio

On December 29, 2019 / Commissions, Concerts, Research, Whales / Leave a comment

Last year I was commissioned to write a piece for the Kapten Trio by Chamber Music Scotland. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish, with lots of discussions and rehearsals with the Kapten Trio throughout the creative process, and two amazing Creative Scotland residencies at Hospitalfield in Arbroath. My piece, called Bowheads, is based on songs of the Bowhead Whale. (Thanks to biologists Catherine Berchok and Stephanie Grassia for sharing recordings with me!) The Kapten Trio took Boweads (along with pieces by Shiori Usui, Mozart, Debussy, and Brahms) on a 6-concert tour of Scotland. This video (made by Anne Milne) is from the premiere, at the Barn in Banchory, as part of the Sound Festival.

Woodwings

On April 23, 2018 / Commissions, Concerts / 1 Comment

I’ve just finished my first wind quintet, Woodwings, for Fifth Wind Quintet, of Halifax, NS, as part of their Forecasting the Canadian Wind project. Woodwings will be premiered in September by Fifth Wind, as well as Choros (Montreal), Blythwood Winds (Toronto), Mistral 5 (Saskatoon), and Ventos (Vancouver), along with premieres by Carmen Braden, Cris Derksen, Daniel Janke, and Cameron Wilson. (If you play in a wind quintet and would like to have access to these and other new works after their premiere, you can sign up at Wind Quintet International!)

Woodwings is based on the songs and calls of a number of birds that are fairly widespread in Canada – the Bobolink, Hermit Thrush, Snow Goose, Winter Wren, and a selction of owls (Boreal Owl, Northern Pygmy Owl, Hawk Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, and Western Screech Owl). It’s been a great pleasure to write this piece, both because I’m a (mostly former) oboist myself, and because the musicians in Fifth Wind are long-time friends, and in some cases my former teachers. (Oh dear – I’ve just calculated and realize I have known several of them for more than 30 years! Am I really that old?) I’m really looking forward to the rehearsals and workshops in May, and to the performance in September!

Composer in the Tabloids

On June 26, 2017 / Commissions, Concerts, Pieces, Research / Leave a comment

The Sunday Mail/Daily Record did a story about my research on seal vocalizations! Thank you Sunday Mail and Heather Greenaway for the lovely coverage of my work!

My piece Seal Songs, based on the Selkie legend, was originally written for the Voice Factory Youth Choir and the Paragon Ensemble, conducted by Mark Evans, and premiered in Glasgow and Skye in 2011. Seal Songs received its US premiere by the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Trinity Youth Chorus in June, 2017. I’m currently conducting research on seal vocalizations with Prof Vincent Janik and Alex Carroll at St Andrews University, and will be writing a new piece based on my research, to be performed by the St Andrews New Music Ensemble, conducted by Bede Williams, in February 2018.

Premiere of Seven Duos for Birds and Strings

On November 30, 2014 / Concerts, Research / Leave a comment

I wrote Seven Duos for Birds and Strings in 2011-2012, when I was composer-in-residence at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany. The piece explores the ways different species of birds might sing their songs together, ranging from unintended overlapping to hocketing so tight that it sounds like only one bird singing.

Seven Duos was commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts for violinist Annette-Barbara Vogel and violist Dan Sweaney. For a variety of reasons, the piece did not receive its premiere until November 28, 2014, when Annette-Barbara and Dan performed it at the International Viola Congress. I’m glad they waited, because this year the Congress was in Porto, Portugal, and I was able to attend! They gave a fantastic performance, and I had a great time visiting Porto as well.

Hermit thrushes sing songs based on the overtone series!

On November 23, 2014 / Research / Leave a comment

For the past several years, I’ve been researching the song of the hermit thrush together with Bruno Gingras, Dominik Endres, and Tecumseh Fitch. We found that its songs follow the overtone series! Our resulting paper was published in the Procedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences on November 18. Some good press coverage of our research can be found in Smithsonian Magazine and Huffington Post, and on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks.