Gray Sound: Pascale Criton with Silvia Tarozzi and Judith Hamann
We invite you to join us as GRAY SOUND welcomes an in-person conversation with the great French composer Pascale Criton, with musical accompaniment by Silvia Tarozzi and Judith Hamann.
Since the 1980s Pascale Criton has been exploring sound variability, microtunings, multisensory reception and the spatialization of listening. Between 1974 and 1987, Criton was the music advisor of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Her work focuses on the sound continuum, informed by these experiences as well as studies with microtonal pioneer Ivan Wyschnegradsky, spectralist Gérard Grisey, contemporary music composer Jean-Etienne Marie, and training in electroacoustic and musical computing. Her compositions use non-standard tunings of string instruments often referred to as a scordatura, which have become a trademark of her technique.
This Gray Sound event will explore Pascale Criton’s Sounding Limits series of compositions, two of which were co-authored in close collaboration with renowned string players Silvia Tarozzi (violin) and Deborah Walker (cello). Marking Criton’s first appearance in Chicago, she will guide us through her creative process, ideas on tuning, and ethics of multiple authorship and transmission—including the first collaborative transference of Walker’s co-authored piece, being premiered in Chicago in this instance by renowned cellist Judith Hamann.
Presented in conjunction with the Frequency Festival and the concert at Constellation on Saturday, Feb 25, Pascale Criton's Chicago visit has been made possible through Jazz & New Music, a program of FACE Foundation and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States with support from the Florence Gould Foundation, the French Ministry of Culture, Institut français, SACEM (Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique) and Bureau Export.
About Gray Sound
Founded in 2019 by Gray Center Director and UChicago Associate Professor of Music and the Humanities, Seth Brodsky, Gray Sound is a performance series focusing on experimental music and sound. The series represents a chance for artists and the broader community to tease the boundaries of sound—when it moves from voice to music, from a recognizable tune to noise.