Tonight Dartmouth's third annual world music festival, "Feel the Spirit," presented by the World Music Percussion Ensemble, comes to Spaulding Auditorium.
From pianos programmed to play themselves to a jazz band's wild improvisation, Tuesday night's Festival of New Music, held in Spaulding Auditorium, delivered original sounds from electronic and computer-based composers. Electro-acoustic music has a surprisingly long history, beginning in 1759 with Jean-Baptiste de La Borde's invention of the Clavecin Electrique, which according to Joel Chadabe, author of "Electric Sound," was a "sort of keyboard-controlled carillon in which suspended bells were struck by clappers charged with static electricity." The first major electric musical instrument of the 20th century was the Telharmonium, a large keyboard instrument invented to broadcast music via telephone lines.
Tonight, the Festival of New Music brings the energy of electro-acoustic and computer-based composers to Spaulding Auditorium. Expect compositions by faculty members, multimedia and interactive pieces from graduate and undergraduate students as well as three pieces by George Lewis, a vibrant trombonist and an award-winning composer. The Festival of New Music is part of a rich musical tradition at Dartmouth.
One word can describe the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble's performance this past Saturday night: infectious.