Voices in the Whir

Voices in the Whir was composed in 2019-2020 as the thesis project for my masters degree in music composition at the University Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Eliot Britton. The piece was awarded the Ann H. Atkinson prize for an outstanding electroacoustic work, and was premiered in 2021 at the University of Toronto New Music Festival.

Voices in the Whir is a conversation between sounds across the human-machine spectrum. Is there beauty to be found in the cold, calculated process of MIDI playback? Is there a meaningful interface between human performers and their mechanical counterparts? What are the opportunities presented by an acoustic instrument which can be controlled by a computer? Voices in the Whir explores the range of possibilities created by the disklavier (a real acoustic piano with motors in the keys, allowing it to be controlled digitally, like a player-piano) and its combination with a string quartet and electronics.Recorded at the University of Toronto Music Studio in 2021 by the Odin Quartet:Video Credits: