Convergence for Alto Saxophone and Electronics

Biography

Alto saxophonist with the Obsidian Quartet, Heidi Radtke Siberz is the Instructor of Saxophone at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Siberz completed bachelor degrees in political science and saxophone performance along with master degrees in library science and music performance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She served two years on the faculty of the University of Miami, Florida as a music librarian before moving to Bloomington, Indiana where she is currently a candidate for a doctor of music degree in saxophone from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Her primary teachers include Debra Richtmeyer and Otis Murphy.

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Obsidian Quartet alto saxophonist Heidi Radtke Siberz would like to propose the French premiere performance of a recently composed work for alto saxophone and electronics entitled “Convergence” by Indiana, USA based composer Sang Mi Ahn. Convergence for alto saxophone and electronics was composed in 2011 by Sang Mi Ahn in collaboration with Heidi Radtke Siberz and is dedicated to her. The work has been performed in various venues including the 2014 Australasian Computer Music Conference, the 2013 International Computer Music Conference and the 2012 North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference. Convergence explores the interaction between the intrinsic qualities of electronic and acoustic mediums. The work uses electronics and saxophone as equal partners to take turns in background and foreground roles and to create timbral illusions. It also explores the altissimo range on the saxophone, which can provide unique timbral effects and is technically challenging. The piece focuses on two main ideas: trills or noodling figurations, and sustained notes. These are mutated into each other throughout the piece. The overflowing of recorded saxophone sounds at the climax is morphed into the live saxophone at the end. Most of electronic sound materials used in the piece are a manipulation of saxophone sounds pre-recorded by Heidi Radtke Siberz.

Sang Mi Ahn is a composer of both acoustic and electro-acoustic mediums. Her acoustic music encompasses a wide range of styles including tonal, contemplative, jazz-influenced, atmospheric and miniaturist styles. Ahn believes that music is capable of affecting the listener directly, regardless of whether it is written in a simple or complex musical language. In her recent experiments with electronic music, she has become more interested in the interaction between the intrinsic qualities of electronic and acoustic music and using their unique aspects to express the intricacies of mixed emotions.​ Ahn completed a Doctor of Music degree in Composition from Indiana University, where she also earned her Master of Music in Composition and served as an Associate Instructor in Music Theory. Her teachers at Indiana include Claude Baker, Don Freund, David Dzubay, P. Q. Phan, Aaron Travers, John Gibson (electro-acoustic), Jeffrey Hass (electro-acoustic), and Alicyn Warren (electro-acoustic). Her recent awards include winner of the 2014 Indiana University Dean’s Prize in Composition, the 31st Republic of Korea Composition Prize, the 2013 Heckscher Composition Prize, the Judith Lang Zaimont Prize at the 2013 Competition of The International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), winner of the 2011 Women Composers Festival of Hartford International Composition Competition, and second prize at the Sixth International Musical Composition Contest held by the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport.