The Sound of Space Between Us, for string quartet (violin soloist and string trio)
Suggested excerpts: 1) 15:05 to 17:36, measures 278 - end; 2) 4:40 to 9:20, measures 104-160
Commissioned and performed by BlackBox Ensemble; premiered October 1, 2023 at The Clark Art Institute.
Annie Nikunen, composer/dancer/choreographer
Peter Cheng, dancer
Kevin Chiu, cinematographer
This piece stems from my exploration of “sonifying” space, or capturing the sound of silent space framed and catalyzed by two points – between people, places, objects. I’m interested in how that emotional space - whether physically measurable or boundless, as in any kind of emotional apartness - can have physical qualities. As a composer, flutist, dancer and choreographer, it’s not often that I get to wear all those hats at the same time, so this was a culmination of many dreams, along with curating a program around it. Curating and creating with a site-specific environment is a unique opportunity – The Clark amplifies the connection between sound and movement, united by the space’s dimensions of physicality, from its grandioseness to its subtle details. I’m always exploring how to connect music and dance in a way beyond mere coexistence, where they physically meld – musicians becoming choreographic agents, dancers embodying sonic activity, and this overarching gestural and sonic conversation between musicians, dancers, audience, and The Clark’s stunning landscape and architecture. It’s a meeting point between ecological and interpersonal, our public place in the ecosystem and our private paths with(in) it. The program also traverses a spectrum of methods of interpreting music and dance, from notated scores to sonic maps to choreographic exercises.
This piece began as a solo multi-tracked violin piece during the pandemic, when I wanted to make it more than a run-of-the-mill solo violin piece I wrote alone and the performer recorded elsewhere, which felt disconnected in a time when we craved collaboration and personalization. That inspired the multi-tracking, where Camilla, the violinist, would record the chords - different “voices” from different points in time - that harmonically re-contextualized her live playing as she moved through and with it. There are four chords nested within that piece that I initially envisioned for orchestra, so I saw the potential for more lives of the piece. This year, it turned into a trilogy, where the first installment is that first version with Camilla, the second is this Clark version with Camilla as the soloist with a string trio as an extension of her, and the third installment is the orchestra version for Phoenix Symphony. Each version is reminiscent of one another, but continually expanded in different ways around that sole live voice, like someone’s core amidst a changing body, mind and circumstances around them. Amidst me and Peter Cheng dancing together in the space, Camilla physically embodies the sound of space between us.
(y)our passing glance, for multi-tracked flute
Improvised/unscored (below is a description as to how I created it)
Click here for photos of installation
Suggested excerpt: 3:25 to 6:35
Annie Nikunen, composer/flutist/dancer/choreographer/director/editor; filmed in April 2021
I conceived, directed, danced in, choreographed and edited this short film for a group exhibition at Dordor Gallery, originally set to silence, as they couldn't pair sound with it in the gallery space. In 2023, I created a multi-channel, multi-screen installation with the film at NYU's Audio Lab, pairing it with a structured improvisation I performed and recorded on flute. I first used Ableton with physical controls on the Ableton Push to delay and heavily reverb my live sound, and then put that in Logic where I chopped up certain moments and layered them onto the initial track. In the installation, the piece played through 50 channels, and the film was projected on four screens on each wall (pictures attached in link above). The same film is playing on each wall, but some are mirror-flipped, making it seem as if I'm interacting with myself between screens. In editing the film, I wanted the effect of "multi-tracking" my body to mirror the delay/reverb of the flute, a video editing tool I’ve utilized in a number of my dance films.
all mass is interaction, for flute, clarinet, string quartet
Suggested excerpts: 1) 6:00 to 8:08, measures 126-166; 2) 1:40 to 3:04, measures 36-69; 3) 4:30 to 5:32, measures 97-117
Performed by Tanglewood New Fromm Players; premiered August 6, 2023 at Tanglewood Music Center.
Annie Nikunen, composer
“You can’t say A is made of B or vice versa...All mass is interaction.” -Richard Feynman
This piece is a collage-like ecosystem of interacting sounds that are constantly re- contextualized throughout. The same material builds on different relationships between the players, which become stronger and more dependent as the piece progresses. The duality of memory and present tense is strewn throughout the piece in the form of warm and sharp textures, basking in a moment and snapping out of it. There is an open-ended question in the sound regarding who is in the present tense and who is still in the memory, and how these two realms of time become blurry.
SANTAL 33 and ROSE 31 from Son de Parfum (Sound of Scent), for flute/clarinet and violin/cello
SANTAL 33: entire piece
ROSE 31 suggested excerpts: 1) 0:19 to 2:12, measures 7-43; 2) 2:23 to end, measures 47-end
Performed by Tanglewood New Fromm Players; premiered August 4, 2023 at Tanglewood Music Center.
Annie Nikunen, composer
A cycle of duos each inspired by a different Le Labo perfume and their unique individual descriptions. SANTAL 33 and ROSE 31 are Parts I and II.