West Oakland Sound Series
2201 Poplar Street Dresher Ensemble Studio Oakland
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Thea Farhadian + Chris Brown
EUPHOTIC [ Cheryl E. Leonard + Bryan Day + Tom Djll ]


Chris Brown (piano/electronics) and Thea Farhadian (violin/electronics) come together for their first time improvised duo performance.


EUPHOTIC brings together three seasoned sonic experimenters, each with a unique approach – put in simple terms – natural, physical, and imaginary. Natural - bones, driftwood, stones, sand, wind and water; physical - gravity, friction, resonance, kinetic forces; imaginary - technological circuitry making hitherto imaginary sounds real via plotted electricity.

Cheryl E. Leonard is an auditory explorer in a quite literal sense — she’s brought back aural artifacts from Antarctica, Svalbard, and Australia, among other places. She collects field recordings from these far-flung locales as well as sticks, stones, bones, shells, leaves, and sand. Using these materials as musical instruments she re-casts her experiences for new audiences.

Bryan Day builds instruments that exploit physical forces like gravity, friction, resonance and kineticism. These constructions often take fantastical forms and emit sounds that confound expectations based on their visual configurations, eliciting delight. Bryan assembles collections of these sonic sculptures according to the needs of the performance at hand.

Tom Djll never lost his interest in electronically generated sounds since working with Buchla, Moog and Serge electronic instruments at Mills College. Using modular synthesizers patched into complex systems, he creates swarms of multicellular critters that fill the air and surround the listener, motivating psychic transportations.

Cost: $10-$25 sliding scale

Audio samples in which musicians at this event play:

Videos featuring musicians playing at this event