Charlottetown – Experimental music duo Sbot N Wo will be at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in April for a workshop and public performance. They appear as part of a national program called New Music in New Places, a Canadian Music Centre project that focuses on presenting new Canadian music in new or unusual venues across the country.
Sbot N Wo is a voice/electronics duo of Helen Pridmore and WL Altman. Pridmore specializes in new music and extended vocal techniques. She has a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music and is professor of voice at Mount Allison University. WL Altman is a composer and performer. His written works are performed and commissioned by musicians across North America.
Sbot N Wo is at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery Saturday, April 4. The one hour workshop begins at 11 a.m. and the concert is at 4 p.m. Both are free, however people interested in the attending the workshop should pre-register by contacting (902) 628-6111 or confederationcentre.com.
The duo will discuss their approach to music which combines extended vocal techniques and interactive computer technologies with free improvisation and sonic explorations. Workshop participants can bring an instrument or use their voice in improvisation sessions directed by the artists.
At 4 p.m. they will perform a selection of their works in a public concert in the gallery. Semi-structured improvisations, these works explore the sonic possibilities of the voice and the computer. Extended vocal techniques (multiphonics, overtones, and other effects) in addition to singing combine with interactive computer technologies to create a web of fascinating sound.
To date, close to sixty New Music in New Places events have taken place in venues such as hotels, shopping malls, office buildings, industrial sites, a winery and a prison. The Canadian Music Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of the SOCAN Foundation and the Government of Canada through the Canada Music Fund.
Also on April 4, the Gallery is holding an opening reception for the latest RBC Emerging Artists exhibition, Becka Viau: Young Farmers from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
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Media contact: Dan Wall, publicist, Confederation Centre of the Arts, phone (902) 628-6135
Email: confederationcentre.com, web www.confederationcentre.com