The Nature of Music: Matthew Burtner
Composer Matthew Burtner makes music with glaciers, a business fraught with the hazards of calving, melting and, on occasion, over-modulating. His recent impressive CD release, Glacier Music, was the subject of his interview concert with OM Artistic Director Charles Amirkhanian.
Burtner composes music for concert instruments accompanied by glacier sounds, recorded by the composer at very close range. The Chairman of the Music Department of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, he was born in 1970 in Naknek, Alaska, a small coastal fishing village where he was inspired by the vast natural resources of his native state. He will present recorded performances of Sound Cast of Matanuska Glacier (with string quartet, wind trio and Chapman Stick, as well as Syntax of Snow (with solo percussion). A highlight of the evening will be video of a dramatic collaboration with Time Lapse Dance (NY). His music has won competitions and prizes at Bourges (France), Gaudeamus (Netherlands), Darmstadt (Germany) and the Russolo (Italy) international competitions. He is Professor of Composition and computer Technologies at his university and Director of EcoSono, an environmental arts non-profit. His music and research explores embodiment, climate change, polymetrics, and noise.
This event took place on April 13, 2019 at the Goldman Theater at the David Brower Center.
