Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

This photo is from a performance last month at The Stone, in New York City, taken by flickr pal and new music enthusiast litherland. I really enjoyed performing with Kathleen Supové and Jennifer Choi! Each played one of my compositions for solo instrument with electronics – Kathleen did (Re)acciones (that is Kathleen and I in the photo) and Jennifer performed electric blue pantsuit, while I performed the computer parts for the two pieces. My part is so simple that I feel a bit silly being on stage at all, but triggering the electronic sounds live is really the best option for performance – we are able to play against one another, vary tempos, have eye contact…all that. So much better than an entirely pre-recorded electronic part!

It was a fun evening with an enthusiastic audience who braved the pouring rain…I was pleasantly surprised by how good the space sounded. In addition to my pieces, Jennifer and Kathleen performed works by Susie Ibarra, Michael Gatonska, and Vijay Iyer, as well as some improvisations. These two women improvise so beautifully together – very comfortable and fluid, a pleasure to hear!