Gastvortrag Michael Schumacher

Guest lecture within the seminar “Electroaoustic music” at the ELAK, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Abstract:
Composer Michael J. Schumacher has devised a portable multichannel sound system (the PMcSS) for the presentation and performance of his compositions and improvisations. Complete with speakers, amplifier, interface, wires and computer, the entire system weighs 30 pounds and can be carried in a suitcase and backpack. Schumacher has toured Europe with the system (a second tour is planned for May 2018) and given numerous one-off concerts in the United States, as soloist as well as with improvisors including instrumentalists from various musical disciplines, poets, dancers, performance artists and videoists. Currently, Schumacher has been presenting a set of compositions called Variations, a 45 minute set of short (3-7 minute) pieces that transpose the classical idea of variation into the areas of spatialization and timbre.

For his talk at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Schumacher will explore the details of the technical and compositional practices developed for the PMcSS. The basic idea is that these reveal a great deal about contemporary approaches to music composition in general, issues relating to unconventional instruments and performance, the role of improvisation and collaboration, generative and algorithmic composition, the influence of computer software on musical form and content, the possibilities and problems of notating and archiving work, the sound art/music dichotomy (or continuum), as well as the questions of audience development, selling and distributing work and the cultivation of alternative performance/presentation spaces.