Gray Sound Sessions, Vol. 6, Pt. 1: Angélica Negrón
The Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry hosts Volume 6, Part 1 of Gray Sound Sessions: Angélica Negrón.
Pasajero (Passenger/Fleeting) is a collection of ambient pop songs for voice, live electronics, vegetable synth (via the Ototo interface) and mechanical instruments built by Nick Yulman. Inspired by themes of collective and individual identity as well as the search for home, these songs combine elements of magical realism with fragile electroacoustic soundscapes crafted mostly through micro samples and found sounds. Exploring the convergence between the organic and the artificial by combining an unconventional domestic orchestra with automatic instruments that use robotic modules to play themselves, these songs seek also to highlight the sometimes- overlooked magic in the ostensibly insignificant, the mundane and the quotidian. “Pasajero” is dedicated to all of those who’ve had to leave their place of origin in search of something else.
About the artist:
Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras and choir. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, loadbang, MATA Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, the American Composers Orchestra and the New York Botanical Garden, among others. Upcoming premieres include works for the LA Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Girls Chorus, and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative. Negrón continues to perform and compose for film.
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***This free performance is sponsored by the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, but we encourage listener-watchers to consider making their own donations to the artists. Angélica Negrón has requested that donations be sent to Castle of our Skins.
About Gray Sound Sessions
The Gray Center is now presenting a free, streaming weekly music-and-sound series, Gray Sound Sessions, featuring concerts but also happenings and experiments with form and platform. The series showcases searching performances from some of our favorite musicians and sound-makers including Opera Povera, Seth Parker Woods, a•pe•ri•od•ic, Viola Yip and Nicola Hein, and many more. In each case, we ask these artists not only to present work of their choice, but also—often through the performance itself—to reflect on the peculiar place of music and sound in this moment, and on the special power of those who labor them into being.
Gray Sound Sessions take place on Tuesday evenings at 8PM Central Daylight Time on the Gray Center’s Gray Sound Sessions page and the Gray Center's Facebook page. All events are sponsored by the Gray Center and free and open to the public, but we ask listener-watchers to consider making their own donations to the featured performers. The series is the initiative of Seth Brodsky (Gray Center Director), Zachary Cahill (Gray Center Director of Programs and Projects), and Seth Parker Woods (Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago). Others will surely be brought into the mix. We look forward to tuning in with you, near and far!