Episode Twenty-Six - Joe Kasinskas

Composer Joe Kasinskas moved to the Philadelphia area when the Relache Ensemble was still in a formative stage of defining itself as a performing entity. Its mission was, of course, performing new music within the experimental music traditions. In those days, the ensemble tossed a wide net, hoping to snare young composers with visions of how to incorporate evolving performative styles and emerging electronic and computer technologies in a compelling manner that would appeal to a new, inquisitive audience. Joe’s timing was impeccable. He envisioned musical works that used analog audio-acoustic systems to enhance, alter and extend the sounds generated by traditional musical instruments. He often used mythological stories as vehicles within which to set his musical creations. That is the focus on this episode of the Relache Chronicles.

Two works will be featured that were incorporated into a musical theater piece titled “Demeter’s Lament.” The first, titled “Vesperal Span” for solo flute features an analog delay technique that produces an aural illusion of sound moving in space. The performer is Laurel Wyckoff who premiered it with the Relache Ensemble. The second work, titled “Flight of Birds” for solo violin uses an analog delay to create an environmental echo suggesting a group of birds talking flight, an illusory image emanating from the violin. It is performed by Bridget Kasinskas, who premiered it on a Relache Ensemble concert. Each work was intended to serve as a concert performance piece as well as a part of “Demeter’s Lament.”