LaSaM

LaSaM is an eclectic ensemble of composer-performers residing in and near Victoria, BC, Canada. Collaborators 2007-current: MARGARET ASHBURNER - Harp (A Rose is A Rose); NICK FAIRBANK - Voice, Trumpet (A Rose is A Rose); KRISTY FARKAS - Melodica, Harmonium, Bells, Gadgets, Piano (Sonic Whisper; Removing the Demon); ALFONS FEAR - Trumpet (Removing the Demon); MASON KOENIG - Percussion (Removing the Demon); CATHY LEWIS - Voice, Bells, Bowls (Resonant Chambers, A Rose is a Rose); KIRK MCNALLY - clarinet, electronics (Resonant Chambers); MARIO MILAT - guitar, sound engineer (Sonic Whisper, Removing the Demon); MAX MURRAY - tuba (Removing the Demon); TINA PEARSON - flute, accordion, voice, glass, bells (Resonant Chambers, A Rose is a Rose, Sonic Whisper, Removing the Demon); COREY RAE - percussion (Removing the Demon); CHRIS REICHE - keyboards, bells, percussion (Resonant Chambers, LaSaM Unplugged - A Rose is a Rose, Sonic Whisper, Removing the Demon); ANDY SCHLOSS - electronics, computer programming (Resonant Chambers); RODNEY SHARMAN - flute, voice (Removing the Demon); GEORGE TZANETAKIS - baritone saxophone (Removing the Demon); PROJECTS: Resonant Chambers, 2007-2008, presented as part of the Victoria Symphony New Currents Festival, involved the development of an electroacoustic environment that blended a computer generated architectural soundscape complete with an audience dream booth and amplified acoustic instruments. Resonant Chambers composer-performers were Andy Schloss, Chris Reiche, Tina Pearson, Kirk McNally and Cathy Lewis, with computer programming by David Jaffe and quotations from the works of John Cage and Alvin Lucier. LaSaM Unplugged: A Rose is a Rose, June 2008, featuring acoustic music by James Tenney, Alvin Curran, Earle Brown, Pauline Oliveros and the performers: Chris Reiche, Tina Pearson, Cathy Lewis, Nicholas Fairbank and Margaret Ashburner. Sonic Whisper, November 2008 featured a concert of new pieces collectively created by LaSaM members Kristy Farkas, Tina Pearson and Chris Reiche. Sonic Whispering is listening for the sounds, and the spaces between gestures, that come about by allowing the use of musical instruments and other devices in ways they were not necessarily intended to be used. It is also the practice of listening for signals from the sonic landscape; listening for texture and nuance, and for obscure, evocative and delicate sounds not usually attended to in expressive or formal music. Removing the Demon, 2008-2009, featured a 10-piece ensemble performing ritualistic works by Pauline Oliveros, Martin Bartlett and Gavin Bryars for the 2009 edition of the Victoria Symphony New Currents Festival. Oliveros' Sonic Meditation "Removing the Demon or Getting Your Rocks Off set the tone for the evening". The late Vancouver composer/performer/teacher Martin Bartlett's Five Directions and Gavin Bryars' famous "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet" completed this concert.