Friday, September 13, 2024
Doors 7 pm. Concert 7:30 pm
$20 Advance Tickets
New Music for Organ: George Rahi & gamut inc
The Canadian Music Centre presents an evening of performances by George Rahi & gamut inc; artists known for their experimental work with pipe organs. The concert showcases their music with one of Canada’s largest pipe organs, the immense Casavant organ of Metropolitan United Church. Here the vibrant acoustics of the organ merge with electronic music techniques, exploring new digital poetics of the organ.
Venue:
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen Street East
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2Z3
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George Rahi – Music for the Augmented Pipe Organ
Music for the Augmented Pipe Organ merges the vibrant acoustics of the pipe organ with the techniques of electronic music. Viewing the pipe organ as both a traditional and radical instrument capable of constructing new sound worlds, the project extends the instrument towards an emerging digital culture using custom interfaces to sequence the organ’s pipes and stops. Exploring new poetics and anomalies of the organ, the interdisciplinary work celebrates process and rewards close listening.
“transforms the world’s oldest mechanical synthesizer into a jarringly futuristic device …. makes the organ feel alive with possibility” – The Wire: Adventures in Sound and Music
George Rahi is an artist and composer based in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish territories. He works with experimental instruments and technologies as a method of exploring acoustic and digital anomalies, modes of listening, and spatial and architectural thinking. His work includes installations, instrument making, solo + ensemble performance, and works for radio, theatre & public spaces. Recent presentations have included Artificial Sonification exhibition (Matera), SPEKTRUM (Berlin), Kunst-Station Sankt Peter (Cologne), Fusebox Festival (Austin), Institute for New Music (Salzburg), and Orgelpark (Amsterdam). His work has been supported by awards and grants such as the Lab30 Audience Award, Canada Council for the Arts Guest of Honour (Frankfurt), R. Murray Schafer Soundscape Award. He has been an artist in residence at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), Lobe Spatial Sound Studio, Locus Sonus Research Group (Aix Marseille University), and hcma architecture.
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gamut inc – Whilst enjoying the balance of the winds
The interdisciplinary ensemble led by computer musician, graphic designer and composer Marion Wörle and composer and guitarist Maciej Sledziecki is dedicated to electro-acoustic music, innovative music theatre, machine music and automated pipe organs. They focus in particular on topics related to the mechanization of society. Since 2019, they have directed the worldwide concert series and festival AGGREGATE, which is dedicated to computer-controlled pipe organs in churches and concert halls. The festival takes place in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Auenkirche and the Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin.
gamut inc has received commissions and invitations from renowned international festivals (e.g. Orgelpark Amsterdam, Serralves en festa Porto, Vancouver New Music, Theater an der Parkaue Berlin, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Dutsche Oper Berlin, Acht Brücken Festival Cologne, Romanischer Sommer Cologne, Jauna Muzica Vilnius, New Music Festival Gdansk, Numusic Festival Stavanger, SONIC ACTS Amsterdam, HKW Technosphärenklänge Berlin, CTM and others.
This project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, RCCO (Royal Canadian College of Organists), the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion Berlin
