Janek Schaefer

Live composition for portable radios, FM transmitter, 4 corner speaker PA, found sound textures, & Shruti drone box. Sound is all around us. An ethereal tapestry of invisible radio waves and sound pressure waves fills our world. Live in concert, Phoenix and Phaedra plays with our sense of place and scale, by using a surround sound speaker system in combination with a short range FM transmitter which broadcasts to a collection of hand held radios located within the audience. The concert is performed from the back of the auditorium, out of sight, thus removing the spectacle of the performer, and leaving an empty stage for a pure sonic-cinema experience. The composition weaves together foundsound textures, spatial sonorities, and the Shruti Box, an Indian drone instrument, which plays a central role in the work, with it's lulling and engulfing energies. I wrote the work to celebrate the arrival of my new born son Phoenix, and is dedicated to him. (JS)