Composer and sound designer Scott Gibbons lectures as part of the spring dance/theater/visual arts/music course “Special Topics in Contemporary Practice: Creating Collaboratively, Collaborating Creatively” taught by Princeton Arts Fellows Shawn Jaegar and Pavel Zustiak. Gibbons will present for an hour followed by a half hour of Q&A.
Tuesday, April 11
12:30-2:00 p.m.
Wallace Rehearsal Room at McCarter Theatre Center (at the Berlind Theatre end)
Open to Princeton students only.
SCOTT GIBBONS has been composing electronic and electro-acoustic music for more than 25 years, with a two-fold exploration into the possibilities of natural acoustic sound on the one hand, and those of audio technology on the other. Although he is a seminal and influential composer of Dark Ambient and micromusic, his work is not so easily pigeonholed. His compositions demonstrate an acute balance between delicacy and physicality, often focusing around frequencies that are at the outermost limits of human hearing, and embracing quietness as a central element. A series of early releases on the Sub Rosa label – based only on singular natural sound sources such as stones and wind – has received praise from all over the world and provided inspiration for many “single-source” artists in their wake. He has created many unique electronic instruments for use on stage and has earned a strong reputation for his live performances. In fact his first live album – 1999’s Field Notes – was one of All-Music Guide‘s “Best Albums of the Year” across all music genres.
In addition to working with Contemporary artists from Dead Voices On Air, Not Breathing, and the Flying Luttenbachers, Gibbons has also collaborated with several Early Music ensembles including the Hilliard Ensemble and the Roberto Gini Ensemble. He has released more than 30 albums with various groups and solo, including seminal electro-acoustic works by Lilith: Stone (Sub Rosa: ’92) and Redwing (Sub Rosa: ’94) ; a suite created from the writings of a goat entitled The Cryonic Chants (KML Recordings: ’08) with Chiara Guidi ; forward-looking synthetic pop by Strawberry: Strawberry (Taigkyo: ’02); critically acclaimed electronica by Orbitronik: My Computer My Stereo (Thousand: ’99) ; and, with Golan Levin & Gregory Shakar: Dialtones / a Telesymphony (Staalplaat: ’02), a performance for more than 200 cell phones. He has increasingly sought to intertwine music with other disciplines and to collaborate with artists from diverse fields. He has created music and sonic events for the award-winning theatre productions of Romeo Castellucci and Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (Genesi: From the Museum of Sleep, Tragedia Endogonidia, Inferno); Flame Tornado (’05) with Kevin Binkert of Survival Research Labs; the pyrotechnic spectacle FireWorks (’03), and a string of commissions for the Palace of Versailles with Groupe F; and Subterranean Sky (’01) with sculptor George deMerle. His compositions frequently appear in international loci such as the Swiss National Exposition (Switzerland), the ARS Electronica Festival (Austria) and the Louvre (France).
“Gibbons’ tendency to understatement is extraordinary. What he shows us seems to be… not the event itself, but the trail.”
– The Wire (UK)
