by Kelly Rogge
If you have the desire to hear some unique musical performances, Kansas City Kansas Community College is the place to be this weekend as it is the host of the 2015 Electronic Music Midwest Festival.
About 60 composers and guest artists will be on the KCKCC main campus Friday and Saturday to present their compositions in the field of new and experimental electronic and electro-acoustic music. The KCKCC audio engineering department will be setting up an 8.1 channel surround sound system in the performing arts center for a truly immersive experience.
In addition, KCKCC students will be assisting with the running of the event. Some of the compositions presented are for prerecorded sounds, others feature live performers interacting with computer generated sounds, and some feature video content as well.
Concerts are about one hour long and will be:
• 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20
• 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21
All of the concerts are free and open to the public. Classes are welcome. However, walking into the concerts after they have started, and leaving while they are in progress is discouraged because it is disruptive to the performers and audience.
The 2015 EMM Guest Artist is Keith Benjamin. Benjamin joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music as professor of trumpet in 1989. He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic and held principal chairs in there additional orchestras. He is first trumpet in the Missouri Brass Quintet and performs contemporary music in recitals throughout the year. Ian Corbett, coordinator of the audio engineering program at KCKCC, will perform his new work for surround sound electronics and saxophone, “For the Memory of a Kiss” at the 5 p.m. concert on Saturday.
“EMM is an excellent opportunity for audiences to hear new electroacoustic concert music that is being written today. More than that, EMM will host over 60 composers and performers who will be on campus this weekend and who are very accessible to audiences,” said Mike McFerron, professor of music at Lewis University and director of the festival. “In fact, composers want to chat with audiences about their music. Folks who attend EMM should have no hesitation to ask questions and engage in conversation with composers and performers at EMM.”
The EMM Festival first started in 2000 at KCKCC under the name “Kansas City Electronic Music Festival.” In 2001, the name changed to Electronic Music at Lewis – 2001” and Lewis University was the host. In 2002, EMM became the event’s formal name, and the festival has continued to be at KCKCC since.
The festival features an eight-speaker surround diffusion system with eight Mackie 1521 bi-amped speakers, an EAW/QSC subwoofer system and a Soundcraft MH3, 32+4 Channel mixer. Since the festival started, more than 500 new electroacoustic compositions have been programmed and performed.
For more information about the EMM Festival, visit the event’s website at emmfestival.org.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.