UC Riverside

Ceremony of Superheroes is a 35-40 minute musical composition for bass/C flute, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and keyboard, which employs individual and idiosyncratic live electronics intended both to demonstrate digitally facilitated mythological "superpowers" among a representative showcase of soloists and ensembles and convey a philosophical idea of coexistence between the physical and transcendent forces as the instrumentalists integrate their musical powers in a metaphoric battle between creative and destructive forces.

The individuality of the performer is an exciting resource in generating and developing new musical material as well as correlative custom systems for live electronics. In addition, many performers have limited experience rehearsing and performing with live electronics and few opportunities to become acclimated to the challenges unique to new compositions in this area. Rarely do performers have the opportunity to work with electronics throughout the development of a piece. Typical challenges include miking techniques, understanding and hearing electronic/acoustic interactions, rehearsal logistics involving the integration of the electronics with interpretive choices, and developing clear expectations for how the electronics are involved in the musical material.

Ceremony of Superheroes explores relationships between the archetypal and the experimental, the acoustic and the digital, through a musical and mythological narrative that transforms the acoustic and idiomatic properties of each instrument into supernatural expressive tools. Allowing instrumental and interpersonal idiosyncrasies to guide the development of custom electronics and musical material expands the abilities of each instrumentalist and enhances their investment in collaboratively designed poetics by heightening their identification with their characters' roles in the piece's overall narrative arc as a function of a developmentally iterative process.

This process is documented through the inclusion of a full score; original software and documentation; a reflective analysis of the piece's musical development; draft scores showing primary musical material; and a video of a first performance.