Babbling Tower-to-Tower is a work for toy piano and that other toy that has been a defining part of the aughts, the cel phone. For this piece I decided to eschew the many capabilities of the cel phone and use what might be the most neglected feature or “app” available on these devices– the actual ‘phone’ part of the cel phone. Actually, I am making use some of the limitations of cel phones, namely their low fidelity and that amount of delay it takes for sound to enter the phone, be transmitted to a tower, relayed to another tower, then back to another phone. While this low sound quality and lack of immediacy are probably things phone makers and service providers are working to remedy, there are some lovely sonic possibilities in these defects.
:Recently listed by NPR as one of the top 100 composers under 40 “shaping our contemporary musical scene and defining what it actually means to be a composer in the 21st century,” Rusty Banks (b.1974) is a composer/guitarist born in Jasper, AL and living in Mountville, PA. His compositions have been performed in China, Italy, Canada, and throughout the United States. Besides writing concert music for ballet, orchestra, wind ensemble and other acoustic ensembles, Rusty “designs” pieces that use traditional performers, boomboxes, and video within dynamic audio/video installations. His music is thoroughly modern with an emphasis on beauty and invention.
Projects for 2011/12 include a concerto for clarinet and wind ensemble to be premiered by Christy Banks and the UNOmaha Symphonic Wind Ensemble, an installation work with visual artist Karen Graffeo to exhibit in Florence, Italy and Brooklyn, NY, as well as a number of commissions for chamber pieces.
