Indefatigable

17 short moments for piano and electronics. Inspired by the practice of ink painting, this gestural piano piece explores angular piano writing, combined with sound recordings of ink painting

FILM, ARCHIVE AND MUSIC LAB

Invited to be one of 16 international participants in FAMLAB. Information about the workshop/lab: The British Council presents Film, Archive and Music Lab: a week of screenings, live performance and collaboration between film and music professionals in partnership with the British Film Institute, PRS for Music Foundation and HOME in Manchester. The week will begin on 29th February 2016. Film, Archive and Music Lab will explore the creative potential of collaboration between the worlds of cinema, film archive and music. The British Council has invited 16 artists and producers – including music makers, film makers and video game composers – to take part in a series of workshops, masterclasses, screenings and networking events all with the aim of increasing opportunities for cross-sector work, while providing a fertile breeding ground for future collaborations. The programme is inspired by the creative and popular success of event cinema and live performances of film scores, including the BFI Archive’s international tour, "The Hitchock 9". We’re bringing together an exciting group of participants from East Asia and the UK as part of this opportunity for professional development and they are: Lisa Meyer, William Doyle (East India Youth), Masaaki Yoshida (Anchorsong), Ruth Paxton, Jessica Curry, Roly Porter, Shiva Feshareki, Nick Abrahams, Jay Bedwani, Owen Wang, Aoura Chandra, Nguyen Manh Duy Linh, Fikri Fadzil, Jeremy Mayall, Chunhwi Park and Thanapol Setabrahmana. PRS for Music Foundation has helped to fund and select the UK based music creators who are taking part in the Lab

A nauseous lament

A short piece of conceptual performance art. The score is self explanatory. CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND FOR THE WORK: Performance art has a long and established tradition - drawing back to artists like Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, and even some of the work of John Cage. It may be either scored or improvised; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned; and both the performer and audience can be present or absent - it sets up a conceptual framework that allows it to exist without being specifically realised. It can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, presence in a medium, and a relationship between performer and audience. "Indeed, at its worst, performance art can seem gratuitous, boring or just plain weird. But, at its best, it taps into our most basic shared instincts: our physical and psychological needs for food, shelter, sex, and human interaction; our individual fears and self-consciousness; our concerns about life, the future, and the world we live in. It often forces us to think about issues in a way that can be disturbing and uncomfortable, but it can also make us laugh by calling attention to the absurdities in life and the idiosyncrasies of human behavior." - The Khan Academy PUBLISHED ONLINE. SHARED MULTIPLE TIMES THROUGH DIFFERENT OUTLETS

To Sleep

Score for structured improvisation. Created by Jeremy Mayall. Brought to life in performance in collaboration with Kent Macpherson and Yotam Levy. TO SLEEP is the second longest continuous piece of music to ever be performed anywhere (after Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible by John Cage which is scheduled to last 639 years!). TO SLEEP is an experiment. It is an exploration of music’s capacity to induce meditative, otherworldly and perhaps even psychedelic states, through the process of a communal nights sleep. Drawing primary inspiration from reading about the ambient ‘happenings’ of Robert Rich in California in the 1980s - these were immersive all-night shows, performed to sleeping audiences, that stretched the definition of a ‘concert’ beyond all familiar limits. These much-mythologised happenings are part physical experience, part community intervention, part scientific experiment, part mystic ritual. Macpherson and Mayall, along with cellist Yotam Levy will perform a synthesis of found sound, prepared drones, and live instrumental playing. The focus of the event is around everything being very slow. Anything resembling a melody might unfold over a half an hour or so. The concentration is really one of subtlety, slowness, extremely drawn out transitions, and exploring an unfolding sense of continuity. The intention with TO SLEEP is to explore the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness. Creating a space where the audience can guide themselves into a state of half-sleep and notice the way that their brains shift perceptions into an internal world. Through deconstructing the conventions of traditional compositional and performative approaches, TO SLEEP will explore the potential for dreamlike experiences between the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states - the technical words for when you’re going into sleep and out of sleep. This is a 9 hour long form musical composition within which different ideas, textures, fragments, themes and variations will be woven in what essentially becomes an endurance performance event! The performers work hard to make the audience feel relaxed, and allow themselves to become part of the immersive multimedia journey. Mayall has composed a structural guide to shape the 9hour composition as built and developed by the performers

The effect of bundled sticks on sound

A short composition for bassoon and FX pedals. The Effect of Bundled Sticks on Sound Programme Note: “if something has an interesting enough sound, you don’t have to play as much on the instrument … the sound takes over… [It’s] part of the composition.” – Marcus Miller This piece was originally written as a sonic exploration of the bassoon – but to move beyond the repertoire for acoustic solo bassoon, and to extend the sound world of the instrument by including a microphone and FX pedals. The main motif is constructed from two fragments: a rising tone, and a falling 7th then 6th . These fragments are rearranged, reversed, stretched and manipulated throughout the piece. Also, of particular interest to the listener, the influence of funk and blues music should be quite clear throughout the piece. But at its essence this piece is an exploration of sound

There's not enough walrus in it

A short composition for solo bassoon. World Premiere - This new work for solo bassoonist is inspired by a moment of sleep-talk/nighttime delirium with Jeremy’s son Wolfgang. Performed by Ben Hoadle

Piano and Eggs - Concert Series Curation

The School of Media Arts, Wintec is proud to present “PIANO & EGGS” - a series of breakfast concerts to be held on the second Monday of every month from 7am-8am. The concerts will take place between the Creative Waikato space and Miltons Canteen on Alexandra Street in Hamilton. Following on from the success of the 2016 experiment with 'Piano & Eggs' with a month of concerts in August, we are now planning to spread the joy across the year and have one concert each month! Starting on April 10th. We all know that concerts are typically reserved for evenings towards the end of the week, providing a closing reward to the pressures of working life. But it really feels great when there is a way to kick off your week with an early Monday morning reward and enjoy your morning coffee and breakfast accompanied by some live music! Mark the dates in your calendar now! Each concert will be live streamed on the School of Media Arts, Wintec page - so even if you can't make it in, you can still enjoy the music. PIANO AND EGGS: Second Monday of Every Month - 7am start. April 10th; May 8th; June 12th; July 10th; August 14th; September 11th; October 9th; November 13th; December 11t

Composition Portfolio

The works in this portfolio of original compositions cover a wide spectrum of genres, styles, approaches, and musical techniques. The aim was to demonstrate mastery of the various musical languages and techniques characteristic of each genre. The calculatedly low-fi 'alt.rock meets computer games' approach of the concept album They No Longer Sleep Alone is of folk-like simplicity, deliberately eschewing the various polishing processes available to producers now in the digital mastering situation. The intention was to preserve a naturalness of sound and song making. On the other hand, live electronic effects are utilized to expand the sonorities and textures obtained from a solo bassoon in The Effect of Bundled Sticks on Sounds. Today is the Tomorrow takes this idea further, being a completely electronic work mixing live musical performance (turntables) with pre-recorded sounds, these interacting with live video and prepared animation. De Feo, inspired by graffiti artists, was written for a virtuoso pair of performers in the unusual combination of alto saxophone and viola, with no electronics being required. The Big Fat Jazz Bastard Theme Song and Espacio were written for particular performers and approaches to music making, while Saturday Afternoon and Late Night Specials are film scores. Swamp Treasures and Bungamucka - the Alarmist were commissioned for theatrical productions and thus were designed to fulfil specific functions determined by the stage directors. By way of contrast, ...seconds unwind...generated noise...racecar... is an abstract work that utilizes the sophistication and subtleties of timbre, rhythm and texture available from a professional chamber orchestra

Portfolio of Compositions: Systematic composition of cross-genre hybrid music

The research focus of this PhD thesis is the development of a new technique for composing original musical compositions in which elements from different musical genres are hybridised. The innovative aspect of achieving balanced hybridity is the development of a systematic approach to selecting and synthesising or hybridising key musical elements across a range of different genres. The major component of this submission is a portfolio of nine original works with attached CD/DVD recordings. 1. Tracking Forward for viola, backing track and video 2. The Long White Cloud for chamber band and electronics 3. ‘Colorless green ideas sleep furiously’ for orchestra 4. Push for Miles for electric bass and backing track 5. Norse Suite for viola and cello 6. The Foggy Field a studio construction 7. Into the Nocturnal Sunshine for flute, viola, cello, drums and electronics 8. One Night, New Breath for taonga puoro, viola, drums and electronics 9. Sketches of an Intergalactic Earworm for piano trio and boombox The accompanying documentation clarifies, and contextualises the creation and presentation of these works; and illuminates the aesthetic underpinnings and compositional techniques developed and utilised as a part of this hybrid-genre compositional approach. The structure of the supporting exegesis is in two parts: the methodology of practice-based research, and reflective investigation. Part One (Chapters 1 and 2) is an introductory overview; an observation of the existing literature and related work, relevant creative practice in the composer’s previous work; and the compositional methodology – including an explanation of the genre matrix. Part Two (Chapters 3 to 12) analyses the use of genre, the balance of hybridity, and relevant compositional techniques utilised in the development of each individual piece

Te Ruru Light festival 2019 - Direction/Curation

This free community event includes interactive light installations, immersive performances, building projections, a dedicated kids' zone, and much more