Philip Brownlee was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1971. He is a graduate of the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington. His works span instrumental and electroacoustic resources.
The title suggests a mixed metaphor, the organic alongside the astronomical. Propelled by small-scale rhythmic articulation, strands reach out towards points, tracing delicate spirals through space. Alongside these sit diffuse clouds of material, out of which new constellations take shape. There is above all a concern with the intimate connection between the gestures of performance and their sonic result. The instruments act as filters which shape raw sound in a manner reminiscent of the procedures of the electroacoustic studio. There is a constant tension between organic direction and quite arbitrary frameworks, a mesh of non-congruent processes operating on different structural levels. In front of this, the intricate detail of the audible surface attempts to impose perceptual order on the precariously balanced network of forces.
Born in the Shizuoka-prefecture, Japan. After completing her studies with Kenjiro Urata, Shozo Maruta, Isao Matsushita and Jo Kondo at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, she is currently studying composition with Nicolaus A. Huber and electronic music with Dirk Reith and Ludger Bruemmer at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen, Germany.
The "Imaginary bridge" of the title is not only a bridge between the musical cultures of Japan and Europe, but it is also reflected in the general conception of the work. On the stage is present only an ensemble composed of western instruments, where as the Shakuhachi (the traditional Japanese bamboo flute) is placed behind the audience. Ensemble and Shakuhachi never play together. They are, however, almost always accompanied by a magnetic tape. The tape part is derived from figures of the ensemble part, pure electronic sounds, fragments of old Shakuhachi musrc and Shomyo (the chant of Buddhist ceremonies), which are subsequently filtered, stretched, etc. Its role is to neutralize the difference in the acoustic worlds of the two different cultures. It plays as intermediary realizing thus a formal bridge between ensemble and Shakuhachi in the live performance.
Graduated from Azerbaijan State Conservatoire (now-Baku Music Academy) in 1985-composition class by prot Faray Kataev. Participated in the meeting of young composers in Budapest, Hungary 1990 and in the composition master class in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, 1999. Works: Symphony, two string quartets, "Ancient Songs" for 5 performers, "An cry of lonely chenat-tree" for flute and tape (performed at ACL Festival in Manila, 1997).
Composer is not an abstract person that beyond formation and time, but as every man quietly reacts to events which happen around him and call out his corresponding feelings. Each artist has right to grief. Tragedy of my nation, thousands of hundreds of people left without their land and root, destroyed architectural monuments, families crying for relatives - all this casting over the audience those sadness and sorries, by which opus is penetreted.
