Jean-Francois Charles

One of the first things I discovered in Shanghai Electroacoustic Music Festival last week was that our Prisma concert would be followed 2 days later by Bang on a Can All-Stars ! I chatted briefly with their sound engineer, but unfortunately didn't manage to meet with Evan Ziporyn : I had to leave to catch my plane before the beginning of their dress rehearsal... I hope we'll meet soon in Cambridge or Boston!

I am very honored to be invited to perform during the 2009 Shanghai Electroacoustic Music Festival . Last week, Chen Qiangbin, director of the festival, sent me a questionnaire about electronic music. He will include answers by many composers and researchers in a publication. Read my responses below, and don't hesitate to leave a comment with your own vision... One of the numerous electronic music instruments used by Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon EMS Synthi A ad picture CC license by Zebra Pares 1. your definition to electronic music? Pure electronic music could be defined as music being produced solely by electronic means, like, for instance, Olivier Messiaen 's Fête des Belles Eaux for six ondes Martenot (1937) or Karlheinz Stockhausen 's Studie II , electronic music on tape (1954). But I prefer a wider definition, encompassing music produced through the use of both electronic and acoustic means. In that respect, works such as Pierre Schaeffer 's Étude aux ...

Prisma is a group of composers and researchers dedicated to International Pedagogy and Research on Assisted Musical Systems . The next Prisma event is happening in Shanghai Conservatory as part of the 2009 Shanghai International Electroacoustic Music Week. From October 16th to 26th, you can attend workshops (including hands-on instruction by the best specialists of PWGL ), a series of conferences, and concerts. I have been invited with the following musicians and researchers: Hans Tutschku , composer, Harvard University (USA) Jacopo Baboni-Schilingi , composer, Conservatory of Montbeliard (France) Orjan Sandred , composer, researcher, University of Manitoba (Canada) Johannes Kretz , composer, researcher, University of Vienna (Austria) Mikael Laurson , researcher, Sibelius Academy, Helsinki (Finland) Carlos Caires , composer, Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and CITAR - Research Center for Science and Technology in Art (Portugal) Mika Kuuskankare , researcher, composer, Center for ...

Above is the manuscript of Perpetuum mobile , the second part of PPP for dancing clarinetist. The music is to be performed legato sempre using circular breathing . When the clarinetist reaches the end, s/he circles back to the top, and can play it for as long as desired. The dance movement is notated in Labanotation / Kinetography Laban (just one side is notated). It should be looped as well. The movement should be very slow, inspired by the Butoh art of dancing . Perpetuum mobile starts at 2:25 in the PPP video This section of PPP is more minimalist than Stockhausen 's In Freundschaft , Harlekin , Tanze Luzefa , and other innovative pieces created by Suzanne Stephens . If you're a clarinet player, I hope you enjoy performing it!

This fall of 2009, I am fortunate to be appointed head teaching fellow for Harvard's core course B-54: Chamber Music From Mozart to Ravel , taught by Robert Levin (Curriculum Vitae on Harvard Music Department's web site) (there is a shorter biography on wikipedia). Attending a lecture by Robert Levin is a great experience. He believes that anyone can have fun listening to great music, and he is very talented to communicate his fascination for music. Whether you never listened to classical music in your life, or you are an accomplished musician, you will hear music differently after listening to him. For this year's edition of the course, he chose to spend some time with the following pieces of chamber music: Joseph Haydn String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 33/2, Hob. III:38 (“Joke”) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 25. Sonate in A: KV 256 for violin and piano Franz Schubert Trio in E-flat Major, D 929 op. 100 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Second String Quartet Robert Schumann P...

Last Sunday, I played with the folk group Sabaudia . This friendly group of musicians and dancers performs traditional songs and dances from Haute-Savoie. It is with this group that I first performed out of Metropolitan France, in Guadeloupe and Denmark, in the early '90s. The following pictures were taken by Martial Dray, thank you Martial!

Puppet: the manuscript Last week, I posted the live video recording of PPP for dancing clarinetist . The first part is called Puppet . You can read on my manuscript score different layers composed between 2007 and 2009. I wrote the music in Helsinki in 2007, along with a naive puppet story and guidelines for the movement composition. I actually choreographed the piece between February and May 2009.