William Northlich’s Topaz 0.3nyV Edmonton, Alberta-based composer William Northlich, aka BlipVert, was awarded second place in the 2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest for Topaz 0.3nyV.   Click the PLAY button above to listen.   Northlich shared some notes with Musicworks[...] Read more

Featured Article STAFF

G20 “Down with capitalism, up with socialism!” This distorted-megaphone message is heard against a backdrop of African drumming, French resistance songs, and the constant whirr of helicopters overhead. The rally organizers direct the crowd, “Please walk slowly and peacefully[...] Read more

Sonic Geography Micheline Roi Issue 108

Ian Battenfield Headley “Working with John Chowning at MusicAcoustica in Beijing was like touching history,” confesses a reverent Ian Battenfield Headley during our Skype call. “I had this image of him being this serious composer who doesn't take time to speak to underlings, but he’s[...] Read more

Sound Bite Jesse Ship Issue 112

Understory’s Sonic Ecosystem Like many performing musicians, I considered leaving the music business in 2020. The confluence of loss of work due to the pandemic, exhaustion from years of gig-hustling, and the intensity of social, political, and environmental crises left me wanting to help directly (on good days) or hide[...] Read more

Featured Article Jennifer Thiessen Issue 140

Malcolm Cecil and the History of TONTO THE FOLLOWING STORY WAS PUBLISHED AS PART OF THE SUMMER / FALL 2017 FEATURE "INSIDE THE NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE."  Malcolm Cecil’s interest in electronics began at age nine, when he became the youngest member of a ham radio club in England. His mother was an accomplished[...] Read more

Featured Article Jesse Locke Issue 128

Petra Glynt experiments in celebration Ancient rock carvings at Petroglyphs Provincial Park in eastern Ontario inspired Alexandra Mackenzie to call her latest solo musical project Petra Glynt. Evoking rock, ancient cultures, flashes of reflected light, and the enduring power of art, the name seems perfectly apt. Petra Glynt may[...] Read more

Sound Bite Mary Dickie Issue 119

Aaron Oppenheim’s October 12, 2014 (excerpt) October 12, 2014 (excerpt) is a recording of a live performance held in New York City on October 12, 2014 as part of ABC No Rio’s COMA Series, which presents experimental and improvised music. “This piece uses samples of voice for all of its material, manipulated in real time[...] Read more

Sound Bite

Cerro Bellavista Rooftop, Valparaíso When rain falls, it falls into the open-air stairwell unopposed, rattling metal banisters and pattering on tile. Human sounds congeal below you like wet papier-mâché: gentle voices ricocheting around the stucco walls; kids’ laughter bubbling out of an open window; loose[...] Read more

Sonic Geography Rick Maddocks

Ian William Craig’s Sonic Alchemy To many listeners, Ian William Craig’s debut LP, A Turn of Breath (Recital, 2014), seemed to materialize out of thin air—and not just because it was his first commercial release: one can hear almost spectral voices attempting to penetrate layers of electromagnetic detritus, like[...] Read more

Sound Notes Nick Storring Issue 124

Clint Conley and Hildegard Westerkamp FULL-TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY     You haven’t picked up your guitar in weeks, if not months. You stare at the staff paper and the rows of empty lines burn an impression on your retina. Is this just writer’s block, or is it gone for good?[...] Read more

Featured Article Jonathan Bunce Issue 111

John Wynne FULL TEXT AVAILABLE IN PRINT EDITION ONLY   A chill-blue image of ocean waves projects across the join of two white walls. At first the image appears still, but then you notice the waves undulating gently. On a table in front of the image, and housed in a small casket with[...] Read more

Featured Article Julian Cowley Issue 116