Chamber Music meets Sound Responsive Visuals + Synthesesia Solo Suite
Tickets now available at this link. http://tinyurl.com/HunsingerTixNov22 *Student discount available with code STUDENT. There will be also be a ticketed live stream available.
Robbie Lynn’s haunting melodies are born of protest both personal and political. This will be the second ever performance of Eclipse (premiered in Nashville), Catalyst (which was read in NY) and the premiere of Pavane for Palestine, Lachrimae. Eclipse was written when Trump was first elected and my mother had a serious diagnosis. Catalyst starts with a requiem for bees but eventually moves into an active theme with a somewhat explosive time keeping pendulum swinging globe. Pavane for Palestine Lachrimae is I think self-explanatory. It was commissioned in 2023 but the 2024 premiere was cancelled by the players in Nashville.
The chamber music is primarily traditionally notated although Eclipse has two sections of guided and image inspired improvisations. Eclipse and Catalyst also include electronic percussion tracks. This first set will showcase many of Chicago’s top classical and new music performers including conductor Alexandra Enyart, mezzo soprano Angela Born, harpist Julie Spring and pianist Mabel Kwan. The full cast is listed at the bottom of this page.
For the second set, I will perform Synthesesia Suite, an eye and ear candy exploration of contrasting synthesizers, oboe, alto sax, jSax , shehnai and voice in extensive live sampling plus 2 sound reactive video generators fed through an analog video mixer.
I wrote this structured audiovisual improvisation after my mom died, after a very long term relationship broke up, when I had a bad leg injury that put me on a cane, post Covid, and just after finishing a spirt crushing composition week in NY. I bought another Critter & Guitari videosynth to cheer myself up and was gifted a video mixer. I bought an Arturia controller and software synth pack on sale and soon I was finding some traction and delighting in these beautiful new creative tools. The suite came together quickly. I have been longing to perform Synthesesia Suite again and Constellation is an amazing venue for it. I hope to write an additional movement for this show.
This concert is made possible by a generous Individual Artist Grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
I was just selected for an Outer Ear Award from Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago to document this chamber music. This award gives me a free recording session with ESS engineers scheduled for November 16.
Excerpts from Synthesesia Suite
Below are excerpts from the 3 chamber music pieces on the program.
Eclipse
Nashville Arts Magazine called Eclipse “mesmerizing”
Nashville Public Radio Robbie Hunsinger Her Musical Take on the Nashville Eclipse
Nashville Scene Critic’s Choice and interview Chatterbird performs New Music
If you would like to learn more about these three pieces please go to these pages.
Pavane for Palestine, Lachrimae was commissioned by Intersection Music in Nashville TN and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The players refused to perform my piece and it was cancelled 2 weeks before the premiere in March 2024. This will be the premiere.
Eclipse was commissioned by chatterbird ensemble in Nashville TN. It was performed at Vanderbilt’s Ingram Hall.
I used footage I shot of the total solar eclipse in Nashville 2017 along with manual and sound reactive effects and generative animations. The lyrics are taken from Annie Dillard’s essay Total Eclipse. This was my first project writing for larger chamber group and a singer.
More information on Catalyst is at this link. This was written for a Composer Consortium in Brooklyn and read by Unheard of Ensemble.
Full list of performers for 1st set
Alexandra Enyart – Conductor
Angela Born – Mezzo Soprano
Airan Wright – Flute & Bassoon
Vincent Change – Oboe & English Horn
Jack Kartsotis – Clarinet & Bass Clarinet
Dan Galet – Violin
Traci Huff – Viola
Kelly Quesada – Cello
Tyler Wagner – Bass
Mabel Kwan – Piano
Julie Spring – Harp
Bill Harris – Percussion
DAF – Media & Projection VJay
Second Set
Robbie Lynn Hunsinger – Oboe, Indian Shehnai, Chinese Suona, Alto Saxophone, JSax, Voice, Fiddle, Synthesizers and Video Synthesizers all mixed live from the stage.