Decipher This!

Erin Rogers is a Canadian-American saxophonist, composer, and improviser dedicated to new and experimental music. Her “decidedly future-oriented” music has been described as “whimsical, theatrical” (Brooklyn Vegan), “radical and refreshing” (Vital Weekly) and “a richly expressive display of stentorian brilliance” (The Wire Magazine). Her work ranges from chamber music performance to solo experimental improvisation to individual and collaborative compositions that incorporate live electronics, theatre, and text. In the interview, she talks about her multidisciplinary artistic practice, composing collaboratively, and her work Telegraph written for Decipher.

Music: Skylight, Building Canyons by Erin Rogers and Gelsey Bell (recorded 2022 by Ryan Streber, Oktaven Audio), performed by Erin Rogers and Gelsey Bell; Telegraph by Erin Rogers, performed by Ensemble Decipher

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Co-hosts: Chelsea Loew and Taylor Long

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Hiva Sedaghat is an Iranian choreographer, dancer, and performance artist from Tehran. Coming from a background of architecture, photography, and literature, she first got to know contemporary dance via the underground scene in Tehran which gave her the opportunity to bring together her personal, social, and political experiences through making interdisciplinary pieces that are a mixture of dance, theater, and video. In the interview, we cover this exposure to contemporary dance in Iran, evoking indigenous Iranian mourning rituals as a form of protest, and the synthesis of sound and movement in her current collaboration with Ensemble Decipher.

Music: The Sound Sleep Has Been Shattered by Hiva Sedaghat and Ensemble Decipher

The Sound Sleep Has Been Shattered video

hivasedaghat.com

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Co-hosts: Eric Lemmon and Rob Cosgrove

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ensembledecipher.com

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Lyn Goeringer is a composer, sound artist, improvisor, and performer who makes their own instruments and multi-media pieces that focus on the unusual and everyday within sound, video, and electronics. Their work relies on intense focus and attention to bring the listener to a point of intentional hearing—a world where unusual objects bring haunting soundscapes to life, and everyday objects become sonic in ways we do not usually get the opportunity to hear. In the interview, we talk about the evolution of Goeringer’s custom-built instruments, their piece Orbs written for Decipher, and the future of electronic music and machine learning.

Music: Orbs by Lyn Goeringer, performed by Ensemble Decipher

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Co-hosts: Joseph Bohigian and Niloufar Nourbakhsh

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ensembledecipher.com

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Bora Yoon is a Korean-American composer, vocalist, and sound artist who conjures audiovisual soundscapes using digital devices, voice, and instruments from a variety of cultures and historical centuries to formulate a storytelling through music, movement, and sound. Joshue Ott is a visualist and software designer who creates cinematic visual improvisations that are performed live and projected in large scale. On the podcast, we talk about their history of multimedia collaborations, their recent project at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, and their upcoming performance at Other Minds Festival 27. We also discuss Bora’s newly commissioned work for Ensemble Decipher, featuring a large kinetic sculpture designed to imitate the string game cat’s cradle.

Music: “ClockSequence” from PHONO KINETIC by Bora Yoon, performed by Bora Yoon

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superdraw.intervalstudios.com

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Host: Joseph Bohigian

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ensembledecipher.com

Contact us at [email protected].

Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Paula Matthusen is a composer who writes both electroacoustic and acoustic music and realizes sound installations. In addition to writing for a variety of different ensembles, she also collaborates with choreographers and theater companies, and frequently performs live-electronics. Her music has been performed by Metropolis Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, Tigue, Dither, Mantra Percussion, the Bang On A Can All-Stars, The Glass Farm Ensemble, to name a few. Awards include the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fulbright Grant, two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers’ Awards, and the 2014 Elliott Carter Rome Prize. Matthusen is currently Associate Professor of Music at Wesleyan University, where she teaches experimental music, composition, and music technology.

Music: Lion’s Tale by Pauline Oliveros, performed by Toneburst Laptop and Electronic Arts Ensemble; of an implacable subtraction by Paula Matthusen, performed by Dana Jessen

paulamatthusen.com

Co-hosts: Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Rob Cosgrove

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ensembledecipher.com

Contact us at [email protected].

Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Mari Kimura is a violinist/composer and a leading figure in interactive computer music. Mari is world-renowned for Subharmonics—the production of pitches that sound up to an octave below the violin’s lowest string—and her dynamic performances and as an improviser. She received numerous awards including Guggenheim Fellowship, Fromm Award, a residency award at IRCAM, and the grant from Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Her 2017 solo album Voyage Apollonian features her works for MUGIC®. Mari is a Professor of Music at the “Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology” program at UC Irvine, where she developed MUGIC®.

Music: KISMET by Mari Kimura, performed by Mari Kimura and Ensemble Decipher

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Co-hosts: Chelsea Loew and Niloufar Nourbakhsh

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ensembledecipher.com

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Jamie Leigh Sampson is a composer, bassoonist, author, and entrepreneur based in Western New York. She teaches music composition and entrepreneurship at the State University of New York at Fredonia and is the Co-Owner of the publishing entity ADJ•ective New Music. Sampson has written for University North Texas Bands, Ensemble Dal Niente, and the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble as well as Amanda DeBoer Bartlett and the Ritual Action Reed Trio. Her compositions have been described as “impressionistic, enabling the listener to focus on the beauty, timbre, and nuance of the singing” and “transcendentally moving” by the Brooklyn Rail.

Music: Power Transfer by Jamie Leigh Sampson, performed by Martin Van Klompenberg; In the Next Next World by Jamie Leigh Sampson, text by Gillian Conoley, performed by Peter Tantsits, Jamie Leigh Sampson, and Tamzin Ferré Elliott

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Co-hosts: Taylor Long and Joseph Bohigian

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ensembledecipher.com

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Daria Semegen’s chamber, orchestral, vocal and electronic music with dance and film tends toward the experimental. Her first score for instruments and musique concrète tape is from 1965, followed by tour de force electronic music works she crafted with classic analog studio techniques. Her work was featured in articles, books and in E. Hinkle-Turner’s 1991 doctoral dissertation at Univ. of Illinois. In 1995 her music was the subject of an international seminar at King’s College, Univ. of London. Semegen was honored along with digital music trailblazers Jean-Claude Risset and John Chowning at an international electroacoustic music conference in 2015. Alt-music’s Forced Exposure called her electronic works “heterodyning stereo-heavy monsters as vital as any of the GRM/STEIM/SECAM Darmstadt output.” Critic DJ Spooky wrote, “the dynamic range of sounds is absolutely refreshing, flying in the face of what’s been going on in contemporary music culture.”

Music: Vignette by Daria Semegen, performed by Cathy Callis

Recording of Arc, by Daria Semegen

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Co-hosts: Joseph Bohigian and Niloufar Nourbakhsh

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ensembledecipher.com

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Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Paul Leary is an Associate Professor of Music & Technology at SUNY Oswego in Oswego, NY. After earning degrees in music composition at the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Leary completed a PhD in composition from Duke University in 2012. Paul’s works often include hand built instruments that bring kinetic motion to his electronic works through sensors. Recent works have included a 9 foot wooden pendulum and a bike wheel rig that utilize magnetometers and accelerometers.

Music: Meditations composed and performed by Paul Leary; Perfume by Paul Leary, performed by Thomas Rosencranz; Hephaestus’ Fire composed and performed by Paul Leary

pauleary.com

Co-hosts: Chelsea Loew and Eric Lemmon

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ensembledecipher.com

Contact us at [email protected].

Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.

Praised as “strikingly original” (NY Times), Kamala Sankaram moves freely between the worlds of experimental music and contemporary opera. Recent commissions include works for the Glimmerglass Festival, Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and Creative Time, among others. Known for pushing the boundaries of opera, Kamala’s work has included several pieces fusing Indian classical music with the operatic form, the first virtual reality opera, several telematic operas, an opera with live data-mining of the audience, and most recently, a 10-hour opera for the trees of Prospect Park.

Music: all decisions will be made by consensus, music by Kamala Sankaram, libretto by Rob Handel, performed by Adrian Rosas, Hai-Ting Chinn, Joan La Barbara, Kamala Sankaram, Paul An, and Zachary James; “Ghosting” from Looking at You, music by Kamala Sankaram, libretto by Rob Handel, performed by Samuel McCoy, Jeff Hudgins, Ed RosenBerg, and Josh Sinton; “Bike” from Looking at You, music by Kamala Sankaram, libretto by Rob Handel, performed by Samuel McCoy, Blythe Gaissert, Brandon Snook, Mila Henry, Jeff Hudgins, Ed RosenBerg, and Josh Sinton

Aqua Net & Funyuns podcast

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kamalasankaram.com

Co-hosts: Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Joseph Bohigian

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ensembledecipher.com

Contact us at [email protected].

Decipher This! is produced by Joseph Bohigian; intro sounds by Eric Lemmon; outro music toy_3 by Eric Lemmon.