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UA concert blends media

Crowder Hall will be host to a performance by two UA professors of music in a unique evening of music, accompanied by dance, light and video.

The concert will feature a recent work by renowned contemporary composers Daniel Asia and Kip Haaheim, entitled "Sacred and Profane." The 45-minute piece is an electro-acoustic composition that utilizes synthesizers and synthesizing software to create the music.

The complete work of "Sacred and Profane" is composed of five sections, three belonging to the sacred theme, the final two comprising the profane theme.

Through these opposing themes the composers intend to convey the duality of existence - the constant interactions between opposites found in life.

The "Sacred" portion of the program has three movements, each with titles drawn from 18th century Hassidic texts by rabbinic masters known for their poetic imagery - "An Awesome Silent Fire," "Like Smoke Towards Heaven" and "Cry" ("Your Cry Will Be a Whisper 2").

The music, described as progressive electro-acoustic classical by co-composer Asia, is drawn from the ideas represented in these titles.

Haaheim was recorded speaking these words and the recording was then "cut up, looped, processed and filtered" using the synthesizing equipment, until the two created the music that conveyed the appropriate feeling or theme.

The music is "based on nothing but those words, as spoken by Kip," Asia said. "Words have particular pitches that can be manipulated. [The Sacred sections] are based solely on the component parts of those words."

During the first movement, Asia and Haaheim translate an abstract idea into actual music. Asia asks, "How do you make fire that is awesome and silent at the same time?"

The production will not be limited to music, however. The "Sacred" portions will be accompanied by 15 dancers choreographed by John Wilson, UA professor of dance.

The technical accompaniment comes in the form of a large-scale lighting design by Julie Mack, UA assistant professor of theater arts. Mack designed the lighting in an attempt to engage the audience in the performance.

Moreover, a video projection, created by Sally Day, will be part of the performance.

"The human body should be engaged in the 'Sacred' element, and something more technical, more mechanized should be used for the 'Profane' part," Asia said about the creative process behind the production.

The "Profane" section will display images of a walk on a beach, a car ride and a series of morphing pictures projected at the back of the stage, complementing the various themes conveyed by the music.

The Asia/Haaheim composition is only the centerpiece of a larger program. Pieces by well-known contemporary electro-acoustic music composers John Berger, Richard McCandless and Wiley Ross will also be performed.

Additionally, there will be a pre-concert talk in Rm. 146 of the Music building at 6:45 p.m. The concert itself takes place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5. Tickets are available at the UA Fine Arts Box Office ($15 adults, $7.50 UA employees and senior citizens) at 621-1162.