gLitchED dreams//invisible BEINGS (2024)

Instrumentation: fl., ob., 2 cl. + a. sax, trp., hrn/, tbn + b. tbn., drum set, vibe., congas, pno., synth, strings, narration, fixed media, MaxMSP, video (optional live VJ)

Duration: 20’

gLitchED dreams//invisible BEINGS is a modular, sonic collage of Afrofuturism, Afrobeat, Minimalism, and Experimentalism that follows the journey of Eye, an Android that finds themselves trying to break out of a world in which they cannot exist as their authentic self. Through this journey of self actualization, Eye struggles to untangle where the world ends and they begin, grappling with the blurred lines of choice, coercion, and control within invisible power structures. Inspired by Legacy Russell’s Glitch, this work explores the ways technology, our intersecting identities, and the unseen structures around us inform and mediate one another, asking “how can I choose agency within a controlled construct?” The performers of the piece engage with the material through the perspective of Eye. With the order of musical material determined by a computer, performers must choose to perform as they are instructed, perform their own material in defiance, or refuse to engage with the piece all together. The piece features text written by Brittany, alongside quotations from Essex Hemphill and Kara Keeling, and ChatGPT generated code and includes live video processing by Kate Alexandrite. gLitchED dreams//invisible BEINGS was commissioned by Alarm Will Sound through the Matt Marks Impact Fund.

Notable Performances

• Alarm Will Sound, premiere performance (TBD)

Purchase and Perusal Score Spring 2025