November 08, 2022
Co-organized by Composers Forum and New Media Cooperative, the 2nd Lumia Musica event paired composers up with visual artists to collaborate on a work in a week. The pieces were showcased on November 8, 2022 in the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater (MEIT). 11 works, ranging from fixed media pieces, installations, to live performance pieces, were presented in this full-house show.
(photo above: Post-show group photo, featuring participating composers and artists)
As an event that connects composers and visual artists, Lumia Musica provides undergraduate and graduate students from the UNT Composition and New Media divisions with first-hand experience on creating collaborative intermedia works. Composer Samuel Montgomery shares his experience participating in the event:
Lumia Musica was personally a fantastic experience. I was very fortunate to collaborate with Taylor Cleveland (New Media Cooperative visiting artist, 2022/23), with whom I shared similar aesthetic interests that helped inform our creative process to create a cohesive and successful work in such a short time span. I’m thrilled that I also experienced this event as an audience member — there’s so much talent and skill between the new media students and composers here at UNT, and I’m excited to see what each of these artists do next!
(photo above: Samuel Montgomery, Taylor Cleveland – The Water Wars (IV) )
Diana Rojas, the New Media Cooperative President, shared the following statement on the show:
This year’s Lumia Musica, which featured animation, found footage, live performance, ambisonics and AI-generated imagery, displayed a wide range of talent from the College of Music and College of Visual Arts and Design. Composers and visual artists worked extremely well together and produced impressive pieces that engaged with the MEIT in creative ways. This collaboration is unlike anything offered through our courses and presents a unique opportunity to challenge yourself and your art by working with someone in another field. Members of both the New Media Cooperative and Composer’s Forum took on the challenge and created something special.
(video above: reels from Lumia Musica; video edited by Diana Rojas)
List of works, in concert order:
Heather Pryse, Marcus Arreguin – Meditation on Progress
Noah Salem, Aidan Carter – Perchance to Dream
Mak Espinosa, Kamryn Robins – More Than
Colin Stokes, Diana Gonzalez – Leid
Samuel Montgomery, Taylor Cleveland – The Water Wars (IV)
Patrick Reed, Connor Mizell – Primor D’Aion
JD Fuller, Teresita Navidad – swallowed with nothing to yell
Connor Scroggins, Cedric Steed, Ella Steed – Sure
Stephanie Hernandez, Peyton Zeavin – Icy
Sam Sanchez, Jacob Lord, Matthew Velilla – Genesis of Water
Jae-Eun Suh, Pak Hei (Alvin) Leung – from:/to: home