Sam Long :: “Respiration” is a fixed media piece composed on the pipe organ. In September 2022, I contracted a particularly nasty case of COVID with a multitude of complications that affected both my heart and lungs. For a period, I was undergoing a frankly disconcerting number of tests and procedures, and couldn’t help but draw a comparison between this and my work of tuning and repairing pipe organs. The pipe organ functions a lot like a human’s respiratory system, with chambers hidden from view pumping air into various tubes and pipes. In the course of my job, I test and fix these issues, much like doctors do for patients. The product of these repairs and corrections in a pipe organ is, of course, auditory, and usually results in the monolithic sound either deteriorating into white noise or haunting microtonal glissandi. I’ve assembled a collection of these sounds from various pipe organs I’ve tuned across New England, along with recordings from the various ekgs, echocardiograms, x rays, and CT-scans I underwent in 2022. With these recordings, I’ve tried to create the haunting and lonely experience of the Covid pandemic.

Laura Wolf :: What is the sound of one body listening to another? Music and sound elicit empirical changes to psychological response depending on tempo, timbre, key, and pitch. Using live biofeedback from a small group of participants, “Listening Bodies” explores how these physiological responses manifest as sound, and furthermore, how these sounds evolve and respond to each other.
Presented by Laura Wolf with Chloe Alexandra Thompson, “Listening Bodies” uses voltage meter and heart monitor feedback, acupuncture needles, custom hardware and creative signal processing to translate live biodata feedback into an evolving audio soundscape that captures the sound of bodies listening to each other. Audience members are encouraged to meditate on the response of their own breath and heartbeat, or to simply enjoy.

Zamy Maa :: Carry Me Home is an immersive spatial sound performance that explores longing, return, and the body’s memory of safety. Built from voice, bass, subtle harmonic layers, and environmental textures, the piece unfolds slowly, allowing sound to move around and through the listener rather than toward them.
The work draws on lullaby, prayer, and ancestral calling—gestures of being held, guided, or carried across distance. Carry Me Home invites listeners into a shared interior space—one that is less about destination and more about surrender. The performance asks: what does it mean to be carried, and how does sound remember what the body has forgotten?

Hector Bravo Benard (Remote) Program Notes ::

Nowhere (2022, 10:13)

Composed during the pandemic isolation, Nowhere uses sound sources from common household objects, layered with processed vocal samples and signals generated by chaotic systems. Techniques such as delay, filtering, and spectral processing were used to shape the material. The piece explores the paradox of feeling globally connected, yet physically isolated, being both everywhere and nowhere at once. Its spatial design underscores this tension, emphasizing presence and absence within a surrounding acoustic field.

Interlude (2022,9:57)

A contemplative break in a series of denser, noise-driven works, Interlude features slowly evolving textures and pulsating microrhythms. Sounds derived from household objects and chaotic generators are processed through delays, resonators, and spectral tools, forming delicate layers. The piece offers a quieter, introspective moment that builds to a noise peak before dissolving again. Its restrained but gradually building up dynamics and spatial flow serve as a perceptual pause, a brief opening within a broader, more turbulent sonic landscape.

In the Fog (2023, 10:58)

This work uses chaotic synthesis and feedback-based signal processing to create dense, slowly shifting sonic textures. High-frequency resonances and layered atmospheres form a rich, immersive sound mass. The piece emphasizes spatial and timbral counterpoint, with grain clouds and diffused gestures scattered through the 3D field. These sounds gradually unfold, producing complex interference patterns and micro-rhythms. The title reflects the experience of being enveloped by a slowly drifting fog, evoking a space where perception blurs and time stretches.