Artists-in-Residence Bring Experimental Music to Westminster Students
October 15, 2019
SALT LAKE CITY—Westminster College’s Gillmor School of Music announces 2019-20 Artists-in-Residence as Red Desert: the duo of clarinetist Katie Porter and composer/percussionist Devin Maxwell. Red Desert brings expertise in contemporary techniques and music entrepreneurship to Westminster music students.
As artists-in-residence at Westminster, Red Desert will conduct workshops for students, perform concerts and host a music pedagogy symposium and a music symposium focused on experimental, electronic and improvised music (full schedule below).
“Westminster College music students have a unique opportunity to benefit from the decades of experience Porter and Maxwell have amassed as creators and performers of cutting-edge music,” said Brandon Derfler, chair of the Florence J. Gillmor School of Music. “With their focus on the latest music technology and effective music entrepreneurship, the Red Desert duo can provide insights into the current state of music business that students simply cannot obtain elsewhere in the state of Utah.”
Red Desert’s residency will stretch students’ ideas of music by performing pieces that challenge traditional musical boundaries. Compositions during their first concert include shoes falling on heads, cellphones, sonification of speeches, musical projections of mathematic thinking, star charts, improvisation, silence, singing into clarinets and other wild and beautiful ideas. Throughout the year, Porter and Maxwell will demonstrate how creative music has career opportunities in the arts and beyond.
“Our goal is to inspire students to be amazing musicians, effective interdisciplinary collaborators, open-minded musical thinkers and fluent in media and technology,” said Porter. “Our approach to entrepreneurship within the arts encourages music students to develop skills that will not only enable them to seek opportunities but to create their own opportunities by fostering community.”
The residency offers students insight into music entrepreneurship, digital music, experimental music, music technology, electro-acoustic composition, performance in non-traditional venues, forming and running ensembles, commissioning new works, rehearsing new compositions and contemporary instrumental performance techniques.
Contact Devin Maxwell at dmaxwell@westminstercollege.edu or Katie Porter at kporter@westminstercollege.edu for more information on the artist-in-residence events.
Workshops
Workshops are free and open to the public. All Westminster students, faculty, staff and community members, along with local high school students, are encouraged to attend. No music experience is required.
September 13, 2019
You Live in The Now: Being a Musician and Artist in the 21st Century
11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the music technology lab, 2nd floor of the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
September 25, 2019
Music Technology: Ableton Live Presents New Techniques and Creative Strategies Centered around Live, Push and Max for Live. Featuring presenter Mat Mateus.
6:30–8:30 p.m. in the Vieve Gore Concert Hall in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
October 4, 2019
Collaboration and Competition: How to Get Better at What You Do and Work with Others in Inspiring Ways.
11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the music technology lab, 2nd floor of the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
November 1, 2019
Experimental Music Workshop
11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the music technology lab, 2nd floor of the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
November 22, 2019
Failing Upwards: How We Learn and Grow When We Fail.
11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the music technology lab, 2nd floor Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
December 13, 2019
Practicing Difficult Music and Music Entrepreneurship: When the Hard Work Pays Off.
11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the music technology lab, 2nd floor of the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
Concerts
October 15, 2019
Pop-up concert in the painting studio featuring New York City trombonist Will Lang.
8 p.m. in Converse Hall 311 Free and open to the public
October 28, 2019
Westminster Concert Series presents Red Desert – The Edge of Music. Experimental music for clarinet, percussion, electronics and the constellations.
7:30 p.m. in the Vieve Gore Concert Hall in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $10 adults, $5 non-Westminster students Free for Westminster students, faculty and staff (with ID at the Jewett Box Office)
March 2, 2020
All-commissions Concert Commission premieres by Carolyn Chen, Devin Maxwell, Judith Berkson, Will Lang, Edgars Rubenis, André Cormier and Teodora Stepancic.
7:30 p.m. in the Vieve Gore Concert Hall in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $10 adults, $5 non-Westminster students Free for Westminster students, faculty and staff (with ID at the Jewett Box Office)
April 13, 2020
Red Desert Concert Livestream concert of post-silence experimental clarinet and percussion duos written for Red Desert.
Symposiums
March 7, 2020
Music Technology Pedagogy Summit
Presentations and papers by academics working in music technology and electronic music. The symposium will focus on best approaches to teaching and designing curriculum in the ever-evolving landscape of music tech.
Keynote speaker: Dr. Linda Antas, Music Technology and Composition at Montana State University
9 a.m.-6 p.m., March 7, 2020, Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
Postponed to July 2021
Park City library
VU Symposium on experimental, electronic and improvised music. The three-day VU Symposium is dedicated to Vladimir Ussachevsky, pioneering electronic composer.
Media Contacts
Arikka Von
avon@westminstercollege.edu
801.832.2682
About Westminster
Westminster is a private, independent, and comprehensive college in Salt Lake City, Utah. Students experience the liberal arts blended with professional programs in an atmosphere dedicated to civic engagement. With the goal of enabling its graduates to live vibrant, just, and successful lives, Westminster provides transformational learning experiences for both undergraduate and graduate students in a truly student-centered environment. Faculty focus on teaching, learning, and developing distinctive, innovative programs, while students thrive on Westminster’s urban Sugar House campus within minutes of the Rocky Mountains.