MICROFEST 2001 CONFERENCE

CONCERT 1
Bill Alves: Microtonal Music with Asian Instruments

An earlier performance of Pelog Partita

Friday, April 6, 2001 12:15 PM
Balch Hall
1030 Columbia Ave.
Scripps College
Claremont CA

-- P R O G R A M --

Slendro Suite
Gendér barungBill Alves
Gendér panerusLinda Michelou
CelloTom Flaherty
Gong

Pelog Partita
Gendér barungBill Alves
ViolaCynthia Fogg
CelloTom Flaherty
PercussionLinda Michelou

Bill Alves wrote Slendro Suite while on a Fulbright Fellowship in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. There he studied the gendér (pronounced with a hard "g"), the wonderfully mellow and bell-like Javanese metallophone used in the famous gamelan orchestra. Gamelan are tuned to one of two general classes of tuning systems in Java, the 7-tone pelog and the 5-tone slendro. Alves commissioned gendér of his own from a local maker, tuned to his own just intonation versions of pelog and slendro. Naturally, the counterpart to Slendro Suite had to be Pelog Partita. For more information on these pieces and the tunings used, see his article on these instruments and pieces.

Bill Alves has composed extensively for acoustic and electronic instruments as well as mixed media, including the integration of music and computer video, robot choreography, and web art. His works have been presented at many festivals, radio and television shows, and other venues in the USA, Europe, and Asia. A CD of his computer music, The Terrain of Possibilities, is available on the EMF label, and works of his are included on other recordings, including tuning@eartha.mills.edu and ICMC 1999. In 1993-94 he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellow in Indonesia, a culture whose music has especially influenced his writing. He currently teaches at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, where his courses include Computer Music, World Music, and The Harmony of Sound and Light.

For more information about this concert and MicroFest 2001 conference, call (909)607-4170 or email alves@hmc.edu

Go to:
MicroFest 2001 Conference preliminary schedule.
MicroFest 2001 Conference list of concerts.
MicroFest 2001 Conference home page.