Electronic Music Summit is December 3 at Schoolcraft College
Featuring ensembles from Wayne State University, University of Michigan and Schoolcraft College

LIVONIA – Schoolcraft College will host an Electronic Music Summit on Thursday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m. The event will feature three college ensembles that specialize in the growing genre of electronic music. The University of Michigan’s Digital Music Ensemble and Wayne State University’s Electronic Music Ensemble will join with Schoolcraft College’s Synthesizer Ensemble for this unique opportunity for the community to experience this emerging form of musical expression. The concert will be held in the DiPonio Room of the VisTaTech Center on Schoolcraft College’s main campus in Livonia, Haggerty Road between Six and Seven Mile Roads. Admission is $5.00 per person.

During the summit, audience members will experience a wide-ranging combination of dazzling sounds, lights, video, technology and 3D imagery along with amazing musical arrangements.  Electronic music is barely a century old, and the technology that defines it is in constant flux. It has no core repertoire, no pedagogy, no traditions. Consequently, electronic music ensembles in higher education vary widely in style and substance, and are usually defined by the vision of their individual directors.

Michigan higher education has three electronic music groups, and they are led by some of the most visionary directors in the state. Thomas Court of Wayne State University has been involved in electronic music since 1974 when his Electronic Music Laboratories introduced modular synthesis to the world of music producers. An active composer and sound designer, Court has been at WSU since 1998. Stephen Rush of the University of Michigan is a versatile composer and jazz musician. His music has premiered on five continents, he has recorded more than 20 CDs, and he’s written a book on jazz theology. Barton Polot of Schoolcraft College is a pianist, composer and software developer. He has been director and a guiding force of the annual Michigan Music Technology Conference in Grand Rapids. And now, for the first time ever, Rush, Court, Polot and their eclectic student groups will be sharing a stage during the Electronic Music Summit on December 3.

Aduience members will experience of variety of styles and techniques during the concert. WSU’s Electronic Music Ensemble tends to create long-form structures, supervised by Court from a professional distance. They use vintage synthesizers and modern sampling techniques. U-M’s Digital Music Ensemble often creates interactive installations, such as their annual Gypsy Pond Music at the U-M School of Music pond. Their instruments can range from modified keyboards to amplified band saws. Schoolcraft’s Synthesizer Ensemble is more repertoire-based, although their repertoire has ranged from Bach to Zappa, from Vietnamese folk music to video game music. They perform on a wide range of current technology, including MIDI trumpets, saxophones and drums.

It’s not just about unique music, however. The audience will also experience immersive media. WSU’s group has created a piece based on the seasons and associated colors. The entire room will be color-saturated. U-M’s group is creating a performance artwork incorporating musical furniture. They will also be performing a composition by Pauline Oliveras incorporating color wheels and Mylar. Schoolcraft’s group will be performing original student compositions and holiday music with 3-Danimation. Everyone in the audience will receive commemorative 3D glasses.

Schoolcraft College is a public two-year college, offering classes at the Livonia campus, at the Radcliff Center in Garden City and online at schoolcraft.edu.