Students Present Impressive New TIMARA Works
BY KARI WETHINGTON

Tuesday night saw Warner Concert Hall undergo a nice shift of atmosphere from the weekend’s full schedule of senior recitals and guest performers as the TIMARA department concert of student works brought in two hours of innovative electronic-based soundscapes. The 13 pieces covered a lot of ground in the ever-expanding genre of computer-based music, presenting themes as varied as nature, the mechanized world and an ode to composer Edgard Varese, “the father of electronic music.” 
Many of the works were collaborative, such as first-year Doron Sadja’s “L’histoire de le Chatte et le Poney,” a piece that combined the repetitive sound of a dropping coin with more intense, syncopated rhythms. These sounds became more coherent when paired with an entrancing melody and muffled spoken-word interludes written by first-year Kayla Soyer-Stein. 
The concert’s best examples of unconventional collaboration were the video and sound projects “untitled” and “Reflections in Parallel.” The former, by senior Raja Das and junior Kendra Juul, highlighted the looped sounds of running water along with a film that provided an eerie gaze at the slow-motion waving of seaweed.
Coupling strobe-light heavy film footage with exquisite strings (junior Amy Cimini on viola and senior Kivie Cahn-Lipman on cello), first-year Mario Diaz de León’s “Reflections in Parallel” provided a beautiful meditation on the “distortion of time and space.” 
Drama set in with pieces like senior James Roberts’ stormy Ionization, which includes Jurassic Park-like sound effects (distorted thunder and radio waves). The piece was interesting but the muffled voice in the background detracted from the creative interplay of the elements. Roberts’ “After Varese,” an ode to the electronic music pioneer, suddenly transposed the audience into a war drama after moments of almost whimsical, cartoonish intervals of snare drum parts. 

Failing to live up to the night’s innovative musical stylings was junior Erin Hollins’ two-part “Mechanisms I & II,” which started with a smooth cello and sax which was complemented by Hollins’ work on the computer and random lyrical interjections like, “Your eye is an amazing mechanism.” The singing was reverential and monotone, which got at the obvious theme of mechanization. 

The second part involved a trio of vibraphone, piano and violin accompanied by the mundane motions (standing, stepping, eating) carried out by three dancers. The music was heavenly, but the “dancing” and overdone monotonous feeling of the composition gave off a pretentious vibe.
Two of the night’s most intriguing compositions were the long pop-inspired piece by the quartet “Pony” and first-year Matthew Mehlan’s pulsating “a string bass.” Also pushing the limts of electronic imagination were the two intriguing, effect-heavy compositions by sophomore Severiano Martinez and sophomore Leah Corn’s ethereal “Voicemusic.”
It’s amazing to hear electronic music that goes beyond Super Nintendo sounds and isn’t just for the dance hall. This Conservatory work is truly inspiring and since it may be more accessible to the typical college student than other works, it is a section of the Conservatory in which more students should engage.