Discovered new shak prac spot ...

David introduced me to one of his favourite bushwalks that is conveniently located very close to home on Middle Harbour, ranging from the hilltop with Eucalypts, numerous wildflowers and lizards to the shoreline, rimmed with oysters, perch swimming in the shallow waters, mangroves, stingrays, sandstone ledges overhanging the gentle lapping of waves and the rushing sound of wind through the casurina trees. It is a little 5km loop. By midday the cacophony of cicadas was ubiquitous but I intend to return to practice in the early morning.

Asialink Performing Arts Residency

[It doesn't rain ... it pours]. I received news that my Asialink Performing Arts Residency application was successful, to spend 3 months in Asia. I applied to do composition and interaction design at the Future University in Hakadote, Sapporo Island of Japan. [It looks like there may be some change to the host institution arrangement so I may take it up in Tokyo and Chichibu, with the possibility of including an additional Asian country]. I hope to catch the Chichibu Yomatsuri (Night Festival: floats, fireworks, Kabuki performances, a portable shrine, flutes and taiko drums). The objectives of this residency are to combine 3 activities: composing a new acoustic major work for shakuhachi and ensemble; studying shakuhachi playing with Kakizakai; and developing responsive electro-acoustic interactive music for shakuhachi with sensors driving sonic augmentation and live visualisation display. There is some time to refine the plan and destination institutions. Tom Heneghan at work has advocated his old University - Tokyo Geijitsu Daigaku [Tokyo University of Fine Arts] - and I would like to learn more about traditional Japanese music including Nagauta [Kabuki music] and the Kinko tradition of shakuhachi. This is a nice creative complement to the Matsumae science research fellowship. This will probably take place at the end of 2007, running into 2008. My Asialink Performing Arts Residency program is funded by the Australia Council and NSW Ministry for the Arts, organised by Asialink at the University of Melbourne.

Kevin's Master's Recital

This evening, Kevin [Man] gave his first recital in the Master's Degree on shakuhachi at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Kevin is paving the way as the first shakuhachi major at SCM with teacher, Riley Lee. He performed a folksong arrangement for solo shakuhachi, Rokudan, E-mu and San'ya, the latter on his new 2.4 shakuhachi in the reverberant small recital hall underground at Macquarie Street. It was quite sympathetic to shakuhachi. Shoko Ono played koto in the two chamber pieces. [Kevin is best known for his performance in Taikoz and Karak ensembles playing percussion]. Gambatte Kevin!

Matsumae International Foundation Research Fellowship

Today, I learned that my application for a Matsumae International Foundation research fellowship was successful. I applied to spend 3 months hosted by Professor Hori at Tokyo University's Artificial intelligence Lab in 2007. The lab is 2 stops from Shibuya on the subway. This will take place over summer (mid-year). Apart from developing my generative responsive environment for gestural interaction research [Hyper-Shaku augmented audio-visual shakuhachi with biologically-inspired models of computational creativity], this opportunity will afford me the chance to pursue shakuhachi lessons with Kakizakai, both in Tokyo and hopefully also visiting Chichibu. I have further developed the research ideas that use camera tracking [computer vision] and computer listening to respond to the chin movement of shakuhachi gestures and intensity and noisiness fluctutations to trigger a group of generative musical and video processes, including the grain characteristics of the granular synthesis engine, thresholds and triggers for a Neural Oscillator Network and video interoplated motion. Progress this far has just been submitted in a conference paper and will contribute to the understand of gestural interaction towards my ARC grant [Gestural Interaction with Aesthetic Information Sonification]. During the fellowship, I hope to integrate IRCAM WiSeBox wireless motion captors as used in Fluid Velocity sensorbike exhibition and cultivate more musical responsiveness, gestural sensitivity and textural variation.

Bronwyn’s shak+koto concert

Sound of Japan: An evening of Shakuhachi and Koto
Bronwyn Kirkpatrick + Miyama McQueen-Tokita + Shoko Ono
Friday 1st December 2006, 8.00pm
The Old Darlington School, The University of Sydney

The programme included contemporary compositions: Shikyoku ichi ban (Poeme 1) by Taezo Matsumura (1969); E-mu (Picture Dream) by Hideaki Kuribayashi (1976); Dosei (Voices of the Earth) by Hikaru Sawai (1991); Rin by Hikaru Sawai (2000); Sanka (Song of Praise) by Tadao Sawai (1978); and Futatsu no den-en-shi (Two Pastorals) by Katsutoshi Nagasawa (1973); an arrangement of a traditional silk-pounding song as rhythmical koto duet, Godan Ginuta by Mitsuzaki Kengyo (1853); and the traditional honkyoku shakuhachi solo, Koku.