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Kansas City is major center of electronic music composition with many area composers frequently winning international competitions. Most of these composers are members of the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) which was founded in 2007 to develop a community of understanding, appreciation and collaboration of electronic artists, and to support the creation of electronic music and arts. Last Thursday night's first concert of the Electronic Music Midwest 2009 Conference showcased eight composers in their varied sonic palettes and diverse musical styles.

 Jacob Gotlib's Slow Splintering for amplified string quartet and electronics began strong with its sounds of twisting timbers and timbres. The most effective moments were the imitative sections between the quartet and the electronics. Gotlib's use of extended techniques and the quartet's execution was admirable and had hints of Lachenmann and Furrer. However, the piece lacked the structural cohesion especially toward the end of the work.

Seventy Thousand: May 12, 2008 by David Olen Baird served as a requiem to those lost in the earthquakes in Sichuan province of China. The piece had a satisfying organic growth in the shifting pads of sounds but there always seemed to be one sound object in the texture that stuck out too prominently.

Clarinetist Mauricio Salguero performed Federico Garcia-Castells Chain Reaction with conviction and impressive technique. The piece progressed from key slaps to dazzling riffs, unfortunately some of the central material for the clarinet was pedantic and most of the interest was contained in the electronic groove.

Also dance-inspired was the audiovisual work, Kaleidoscope, by Katherine Kogl. The video consisted of quadrants, each separated by lines of different colors and angles. I found the music-a high brow Devo-synth meets Aphex Twin jam-more engaging than the video as the colors were too drab for such an energetic piece.

Contrasting Kaleidoscope sunny vibe was Caroline Miller's ironic sunshine. With its whispers of "sunshine," distant wailing woman song, and processed piano, the piece sounded like a dystopian future soundscape longing for sunshine akin to Ray Bradbury's short story "All Summer in a Day."

Soprano Katie Woolf, a rising star in the Kansas City new music scene, sang Scott Blasco's Sustinui Te with devotion and warmth. The live processing of Woolf's voice was incorporated effectively into the palette of handbells and sustained pitches.

Richard Johnson's Gagaku-inspired water meditation on Etenraku had shades of Takemitsu and Saariaho. Through live processing, he blended Rebecca Ashe shakuhachi-influenced flute playing with the pre-recorded sounds of water drops. The piece was serene and atmospheric.

Ending the concert was the aggressive, brutal, and wonderful alto saxophone, tape and video work Promethea. Elizabeth Bunt blazed her way through Christopher Biggs' impressive, well-orchestrated score. Barry Anderson's video of mirrored pulp-icon imagery on top of swirling eddies of black smoke wittily matched Biggs' jittery, stuttering blasts of shrieks and sounds. The low hits were the best use of bass frequencies of the night.

While electronic music may not be for everyone, KcEMA's collaborative initiatives wisely have the potential of larger audiences and exposure for all involved. KcEMA is a vital organization in the already rich artistic landscape of Kansas City.  You owe it to yourself to seek out one of their shows.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance
KcEMA @ Electronic Music Midwest 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas City, KS
For more information visit http://www.kcema.net and http://www.emmfestival.org

By Lee Hartman

Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition.  In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances.  He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator.  His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker.  He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

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