Electronic experimental music from the famous Theremin center in Moscow

8 MP3 Songs
ELECTRONIC: Experimental, CLASSICAL: Contemporary



Details:
Named after Leon Theremin, Russian inventor of one of the first widely used electronic musical instruments, this center was founded in 1992 by Andre Smirnov and a group of people interested in computer music. It is a unique for Moscow environment that allows people with different backgrounds (music, arts, video, film, dance, computer science, engineering etc) unite their efforts in exploring the use of new technologies in music and arts, get some training, and last but not least try out their ideas in the studios. The Center is not committed to any aesthetic style or direction, the only criteria being high quality of resulting works.
Theremin Centre is a completely independent private institution, housed in the Sound Recording and Musical Acoustics Library of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
The Theremin Centre, among various others activities such as research and concerts, offers theremin classes taught by the theremin virtuosa Lydia Kavina.

International Advisory Board: Jon Appleton (U.S.), Max Matthews (U.S.), Marc Battier (France), Jean-Claude Risset (France), Lars-Gunnar Bodin (Sweden), Dmitry Uhov (Russia), Richard Boulanger (U.S.)

The Guests of the Theremin Center were Jon Appleton (USA), Max Mathews (USA), Robert Moog (USA), Fransoise Barriere (France), Ake Parmerud (Sweden), Henri Pousseur (Belgium), Wilco Botermans (Holland), Garry Lee Nelson (USA), John Cousins (New Zealand) and others.


The CD â the only compilation of works by the composers working with the Theremin Center â offers some of the best works created in this laboratory for the electro-acoustic and computer music. Italian edition of All about jazz gave this CD 4 stars!
(http://www.allaboutjazz.com/italy/reviews/R0603_028_it.htm)

JORGE CAMPOS composed his first electroacoustic piece for tape, âAchachachayâ in Quito, Ecuador, during December of 1984. This work was premiered on January 25 of 1985 during a concert organized by the National Conservatory of Music of Quito held at âNuevo Salon de la Ciudadâ, in Quitoâs Municipality. Campos came back to the work with electroacoustic medias when he moved to Moscow. There he composed âIn Memoriamâ and âMéditationsâ in 1993, âEl jardin de las deliciasâ in 1994, âEine Kleine Nachtmusikâ in 1994, âBora â Boraâ in 1994, âSerpenwavesâ in 1995, âKon Tikiâ in 1996, and âOrphéeâ in 1998, all of them tape pieces produced at Theremin Center. Campos produced his most recent works for tape in studios from the United States and France: âTri udaraâ - in 1999 at Conservatoire de Musique de Blanc Mesnil in France, âCats musicâ and âVCCA- tape musicâ both in 2000 and produced at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Virginia, United States, âNuit dâétéâ in 2002 composed at Centre dâEtudes et de Recherche Pierre Schaeffer in Paris, and âSerpencicletaâ also in 2002 composed at Université de Marne la Vallée in France.
He also composed mixed pieces for acoustic instruments and tape as well as works with live electronics, using one or more theremins and digital interactive musical controllers like the Power Glove. Some of these pieces are: âSonateâ for alto, piano, percussion and tape; âYaraviâ for flute, percussion, tape and dancer; âSéquencesâ for theremin, trumpet and tape (1993); âDe Profundisâ for string quartet, percussion, two trumpets and tape (1994), commissioned for the âAlternativaâ Festival in Moscow; âBerceuseâ (âLullabyâ) for piano, percussion, tape and three dancers (1995); âBora-Boraâ for clainet, percussion and tape (1996); âGlissandiâ for six theremins and two dancers (1996); âEsquitofreniaâ for reciter, bass clarinet, percussion, tape and video projection, with texts by Ramiro Oviedo and video by Omar Godinez (1996) commissioned by Ecuador Embassy in Moscow; âEl Cuarto menguanteâ (âNew Moonâ) for soprano, bass clarinet, Power Glove and five dancers, with poems by Rima Dalos (1997); and âTravesiaâ for reciter, flute, sax, piano, tape and two dancers, with texts by Alejandro Velasco, (1997), commissioned by Maïakovski Museum of Moscow.

IRAIDA YUSUPOVA was born in 1962 in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan). She graduated from Moscow State Conservatory as a composer in 1987. She is a member of the Composers' Union of Russia (Moscow organization) and the Filmmakers' Union of Russia, member of the Association of Contemporary Music (ACM), member of the Theremin Center since 1994. Permanent participant of the international musical festivals "Alternativa", "Moscow Autumn", "Moscow forum". Participant of the international musical festival of Gidon Cremer in Lockenhouse, the international musical festivals "Bach - 2000" (project "Passions - 2000"), "White Nights' Stars" (Saint-Petersburg, project "Demjan the Tsar", 2001), "Gent-Moscow-Gent"(Belgium) and "Klang och Rubel" (Sweden), "Delphi's Games - 2002" (Saint-Petersburg), ), Austrian Cultural Forum in Saint-Petersburg (2003), David Oistrakhâs Festival in Pyarnu (Estonia - 2004) and the âWean Heanâ festival in Vienna (2005). Music by Iraida Yusupova was performed in Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, USA, Switzerland, Turkey, Hungary. She is the author of 3 operas, 2 symphonies, 6 cantatas, 3 instrumental concerts, a lot of chamber music and electroacoustic music and music for cinema and theatre. In 2001 she was selected by independent Moscow journalists to be included in 10 the most noticeable Russian modern composers.
VLADIMIR NIKOLAEV graduated from Moscow Gnesin Academy of Music and had a post graduate study at Moscow State Conservatory. His main interest is instrumental music genres. During the last years he also created electro-acoustic music compositions: N-design for percussion and tape, Echolaliyi for 2 flutes and tape, ballet "Petrushka" and 10 pieces for synthesizers. In 1991 Vladimir Nikolaev became the laureat of First International Lutoslavsky competition. A year later he became the winner of Lili Boulanger Memory Fund (Boston, USA).

VALERY BELUNTSOV was born in Moscow in 1969. Since 1976 until 1987 studied in the Central Musical College in Moscow, majoring in piano playing and musicology. Then, during two years he was a soldier of the Soviet Army playing trombone in the military orchestra. Since 1989 until 1994 he is a student in the Moscow State Conservatory. In 1990 he started to work as a programmer, and since January 1992 he teaches musical informatics, programming and electro-acoustic music in the Moscow State Musical College. In 1992 he came to the Theremin Center and created about 30 electro-acoustic compositions. One of them was mentioned at the Bourge competition in 1993. Among his artistic experiences there are one symphony, a piano concert, four piano sonatas, three string quartets, a woodwind quintet, a brass quintet, many pieces for different ensembles, pieces for piano, cello, theremin-vox, etc.
ANDRE SMIRNOV was conducting independent research and development of electronic music techniques since 1976, having particular interest in design and development of both hardware and software sensor technology with particular interest in developing complex relationships between the perfprmer's actions and the interpreting of this information in non-linear methods using custom software. He is the member of the Russian Association for Electroacoustic Music.
His compositions for computer-processed and computer-generated sound have been composed for a variety of media including theatre and radio-theatre, multimedia and dance.
In 1992 he founded the Theremin Center for Electroacoustic Music and Multimedia.
He lectures there and give workshops with composers on the basics of electroacoustic music and multimedia, musical acoustics and psychoacoustics, resent computer music technologies.
He has attended numerous conferences and workshops in the U.S. and Europe including CCRMA at Stanford Univ., Bregman Studio at Dartmouth College, Milan State Conservatory, Music Academy in Basel, Podewil (Berlin), STEIM (Amsterdam) etc.
He won grants and sponsorship from IREX, Rockefeller Foundation, Soros Foundation / Open Society Institute and in 1995 founded the "Cross-Media" Studio in co-operation with the SCCA, Moscow. In 1987-1992 he was the head of the sound department at the Theatre Workshops Association, working with more then 20 experimental theatres, having particular interest in Russian Avant Garde and Futurist Art from the 20-ies. In 1982-1987 he worked at the Psychology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, developing the brain wave biofeedback system and the special computer-controlled sound synthesizer to produce the brain wave biofeedback sonic environment for the purpose of the human self regulation.
In 1980-1982 he worked in the audio-visual team of the Space Museum, Moscow (the remainder of the ruined by communist government Electronic Music Studio at Skriabin Museum), investigating digital systems of space and sound. In 1980 he founded one of the first private companies manufacturing electronic music equipment in Russia. His Studio-1 Synthesizer won the Silver Medal at the Exhibition of National Achievements, Moscow in 1981.
He was born in Moscow, Russia in 1956.
SERGEY KOSSENKO blends in his music rich European artistry with current American music industry trends. Originally coming from the heart of Russia -- Moscow, Sergey has gone through 16 years of extensive music studies. He has a composer's diploma from the world-renowned Moscow Conservatory of Music, a dual degree in composition and piano performance from the Central Music School in Moscow, and, as a "modern addendum" to his classical background, a master's degree in electronic music from Dartmouth College. At the age of 20, he was already writing music for a radio show called Unicum, or The Improbability Theory aired bi-weekly on the all-Russian Station 3. This collaboration lasted for more than a year, and Sergey's background music is still aired frequently on various Russian radio stations. He also composed and performed music for two episodes of Early in The Morning, a children's show on Russian television. At the same time Sergey started to work as an arranger for the Russian Presidential Orchestra in the Moscow Kremlin. His orchestral arrangements have been played by the orchestra both in Russia and abroad, including the leading venues in the United States such as the Lincoln Center in New York City. In the electronic music field, Sergey began his path by traveling to former Yugoslavia to record Pitches of Life, a composition blending classical tradition with pop and new age influences. This trip was made possible by a grant from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia. Pitches of Life attracted attention of Andrei Smirnov, director of the Theremin Center for Electroacoutic Music in Moscow, which lead to Sergey joining the center. There, Sergey composed electronic music of the experimental genre, going as far as creating an interactive fantasia for bicycle and computer. Sergey composed music for technical videos and interactive presentations about the U.S. Space Program, and wrote the score for the Isidis Films short My Name Is Leila. He also acted as an arranger, mixing engineer, and co-producer on a record album Legends Free by singer/songwriter Dan Keenan, released on Rocket Science Records.