In October, UCF Music faculty and percussionist Dr. Thad Anderson will give two free performances of Northbound, a travel soundtrack he composed based on a light rail trip. The performances will take place on Thursday, October 27 on the UCF campus and Sunday, October 30, at the Timucua Arts White House.
Northbound is a live performance composition utilizing processed audio from a ride on a northbound SunRail train, composed electronic playback, and live acoustic percussion sounds.
Anderson says Patrick Greene, gallery director at The Gallery at Avalon Island and curator of the Transit Interpretation Project (TrIP), inspired him to compose the piece. “Even the shortest of train trips can be exciting,” says Anderson. “Changes in scenery, passengers, and sounds, each leg and stop has its own character and mood.”
“I took a northbound SunRail train from its southern most point to its final northern destination with the plan to create a musical composition relating to the experience. Along the way, I used an omni-directional microphone to record the sounds heard while on the train. At each arrival and departure point, I created markers in my digital audio workstation to denote the twelve stations on the northbound route. These markers are used to create formal structure within the work (the full trip is just over an hour and two-minutes long).”
The October 2016 series of performances represent version 2.0 of the project. The premiere performance of Northbound took place at The Gallery at Avalon Island In-Between Series on March 14, 2016 and was recognized by the Orlando Weekly’s Best of Orlando awards, receiving the “Best City Soundtrack” award. “It was an audio-spatial voyage and a conceptual triumph,” the publication said.
Thad Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Central Florida where he coordinates the percussion studies program and teaches courses in music technology. Joining the faculty in 2009, he also oversees the campus’ Collide Contemporary Music Series. Anderson is a versatile performer and pedagogue with focused interests that span contemporary music, design, pedagogy, recording, composition, electro-acoustic music, conducting, and technology; he is often involved in projects that intersect many of these interests.
For more information on Anderson and his work, visit www.thadanderson.com. For more information about UCF Music and the UCF School of Performing Arts, visit www.performingarts.cah.ucf.edu.
Performances-at-a-glance
Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 8:00 p.m.
University of Central Florida Rehearsal Hall Auditorium
12784 Aquarius Agora Dr., Orlando, FL 32816
Free and open to the public
www.music.ucf.edu
Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
The Timucua Arts White House
2000 S. Summerlin Ave., Orlando, FL 32806
Free and open to the public
www.timucua.com
Contact: Thad Anderson
Assistant Professor of Music
University of Central Florida
(407) 823-2221
tra@ucf.edu