On Wednesday, February 26th at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall, InterArts and the Department ofMusic's Contemporary Concerts Series present interface,an electronic performance ensemble consisting of composers Curtis Bahn and Dan Trueman, and dancerTomie Hahn. They will presentan evening of electronic music and multi-media performance featuring Pikapika, an interactive dance performance by Bahn and Hahn, and BoSSA Nova,a new iteration of Trueman's award winning bowed sphericalspeaker. Bahn is a professor of interactive music performance and directorof the iEAR studios at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;Trueman is professor of music composition at Princeton University; and Hahn isassistant professor of music at Tufts University.

About interface
The interactive computer music improvisation duo interface creates sonic textures ranging from delicate imperceptible noise to a high energy wall of sound. They have extended, surrounded, and obscured their electric stringed instruments with a variety of technologies, creating an organic, gesturally powerful computer music. Curtis Bahn plays the SBass, a 5-string "vertical bass" (like an acoustic bass with no body) fitted with electrical pickups, motion, touch and pressure sensors which allow him to "drive" his computer during performance. Dan Trueman plays a 6-string electric violin and an electric bow of his own design; the RBow is a normal violin bow covered with motion and pressure sensors that send performance information to Trueman's computer performance system.

Their instruments are dynamic, changing constantly from performance to performance and within performances. Recently, they have begun to integrate spherical speaker arrays, which radiate sound in all directions, into their performance set-up. Interface has a commitment to free-improvisation and electronic music composition. They create real-time sonic environments in performance which combine pre-composed electronic sounds with real-time digital signal processing, synthesis, algorithmic composition, and sampling.

Interface is often joined by dancer Tomie Hahn (as in this event) performing interactive dance/electronic music compositions Streams and Pikapika done in collaboration with Curtis Bahn. Hahn received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in 1997. She began studying nihon buyo (Japanese traditional dance) in Tokyo at the age of four and received her natori (professional stage title) Samie Tachibana in 1989. Hahn also teaches and performs the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). Her current research spans a variety of topics from nihon buyo, Monster Truck rallies, issues of identity and creative expression of multiracial individuals, and gestural controllers as an interactive performance media. Hahn performs regularly, including traditional Japanese dance, contemporary performance art, and shakuhachi.

Other collaborators with interface include Perry Cook on "DigitalDoo," Monica Mugan Wacom Tablet Performer, Nick Fortunato, Erin Seymour, Luke DuBois and Mark McNamara.

Interface has performed throughout the Northeast and abroad, recently appearing at Engine 27, Tonic, the New York Interactive Music Festival at the Kitchen sponsored by Columbia University, the International Computer Music Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece, and the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the U.S. festival (SEAMUS). They have given lectures and concerts at major academic institutions including Princeton, Peabody, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the MIT Media Lab, and the Computer Music Center of Columbia University and presented their novel approaches to sonic display and gestural musical control at ICMC, CHI2001 and the ASA national conference.

Admission
Admission is free

Telephone
UMBC Artsline (24 hour recorded message): 410-455-ARTS
Media inquiries only: 410-455-3370

Web
UMBC Arts website: http://www.umbc.edu/arts
UMBC News Releases: http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/oci/index.phtml?r=Art
Department of Music website: http://www.umbc.edu/music
Department of Dance website: http://www.umbc.edu/dance
interface website: http://www.arts.rpi.edu/crb/interface/interface.htm
Clip of Pikapika (15 Mb): http://www.arts.rpi.edu/crb/interface/examplemedia/pikapika_med.mov

Directions
From Baltimore and points north, proceed south on I-95 to exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.

From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.

From Washington and points south, proceed north on I-95 to Exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Fine Arts Building.

Daytime metered visitor parking is available in Lot 10, near the Administration Building. Visitor parking regulations are enforced on all University calendar days. Hilltop Circle and all campus roadways require a parking permit unless otherwise marked.

Online campus map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/

Images for Media
High resolution images for media are available online: http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/ or by email or postal mail.