To hear on Sunday 18 and 25 November 2012, 2pm - 9pm:
A Piece of Pi
(November 2012, world premiere)
by Pamela Z
Pamela Z on 'A Piece of Pi' [4'06'']:
A Piece of Pi (A Piece of ?) is a sonic study of the first 200 digits of Pi. The work consists of a recitation of the famous constant using sampled voice fragments. Each digit is represented by a spoken word, a sung or hummed tone, or some other voiced interpretation of the numeric value. Pitches were determined by the corresponding degrees of a diatonic scale. Decisions concerning rhythmic placement, language, layering, and processing were made by applying various chance operations all derived from iterations of the number. The piece was composed, recorded, and constructed by Pamela Z in November 2012, and she performed all the voices.
Special Booklet, limited edition, handmade, available at ohrenhoch: Interview with Pamela Z, biography, description of the work 'A Piece of Pi'. In English and German.Making, illustration, interview: Knut Remond.
Pamela Z is a San Francisco-based composer/performer and media artist who works primarily with voice, live electronic processing, sampling technology, and video. A pioneer of live digital looping techniques, she creates solo works combining experimental extended vocal techniques, operatic bel canto, found objects, text, digital processing, and MIDI controllers that allow her to manipulate sound with physical gestures. In addition to her solo work, she has been commissioned to compose scores for dance, theatre, film, and new music chamber ensembles including Kronos Quartet and the Bang on a Can Allstars. Her large-scale multi-media works have been presented at venues including Theater Artaud and ODC in SanFrancisco, and The Kitchen in New York, and her media works have been presented in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum (NY) , the Diözesanmuseum (Cologne), and the Krannert Art Museum (IL). Her multi-media opera Wunderkabinet – inspired by the Museum of Jurassic Technology (co-composed with Matthew Brubeck) has been presented at The LAB Gallery (San Francisco), REDCAT (Disney Hall, Los Angeles), and Open Ears Festival, Toronto. Pamela Z has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. She has performed in numerous festivals including Bang on a Can at Lincoln Center (New York), Interlink (Japan), Other Minds (San Francisco), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), and Pina Bausch Tanztheater Festival (Wuppertal, Germany). She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Creative Capital Fund, the CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts, The MAP Fund, the ASCAP Music Award, an Ars Electronica honorable mention, and the NEA and Japan/US Friendship Commission Fellowship. She holds a music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.