*2022 stock.* Hearing the bell, I am able to let go of all my afflictions
My heart is calm, my sorrows ended
I am no longer bound to anything
I learn to listen to my suffering, and the suffering of the other person
When understanding is born in me, compassion is also born
- Stepping into Freedom, Thich Nhat Hanh 

Resonance... How do we find or create opportunities for connection, collaboration and shared human and sonic space? How do we listen deeply to one another and respond in ways that create empathetic resonance? This album, recorded live at Mount Holyoke College, features interactive electronic music by Jane Rigler, Curtis Bahn, and Thomas Ciufo; composer-improvisers who perform on a range of unique computer-extended instruments.

This ongoing performance project has developed around an exploration of how we connect and interact through sound, mediated by ancient, current and emerging technologies; how we can “perform” the expressive and sonic capabilities inherent in a collection of personal, custom-built, hybrid acoustic / electronic instruments. The constructed and composed instruments extend the capabilities of traditional acoustic instruments, allowing players to freely combine synthetic sound sources, natural field recordings, real-time computer processing, and gesturally-controlled sonic transformations. ​​Improvisation is central to this endeavor, and performances unfold as a creative exploration – a give and take that brings the listeners along on the adventure.

Jane, Curtis and Thomas have been collaborating for a number of years in various contexts, but this was their first performance as a trio. They also share a common connection through their individual interactions with the composer/performer Pauline Oliveros. Making space for each other’s unique sound palette and actively engaging in open, yet focused listening approaches influences how this trio interacts and responds to each other. Their dynamic and immersive sonic spaces live somewhere between foreground and background, between action and stillness, between concrete, remembered, and imagined. More than anything, these sound spaces invite us all to listen deeply and to contemplate our relationship to sound, place, each other, and the sound world we inhabit / create.

Curtis Bahn is an improvising composer involved in relationships of body, gesture, technology and sound. His music has been presented internationally at numerous festivals, small clubs and academic conferences.

Thomas Ciufo is a sound artist, improviser, and researcher working at the intersections of electroacoustic performance, interactive instrument design, sonic art and emerging technologies. Additional research areas include acoustic ecology, audio production, listening practices and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Jane Rigler, flutist, composer, improviser and educator is known for her innovations in new flute performance techniques, movement and unusual musical vocabulary that incorporates ancient and new languages. She is certified as a Deep Listening® facilitator and holds workshops worldwide for all people.