49.6982° N, 124.9963° W a river runs through unceded territory of the Kʼómoks Composer Anne Bourne, original cello and organ improvised and recorded with Jonas Bonnetta; kingfisher field recording Anne Bourne; WHGunn leopard frog field recording courtesy of Cornell; for Sarah Bird, 2024
A river will flow in more than one direction at once altering perception and the experience of time.
Choreographed to by Rachel E Skipor for her performance of my sky this body at Cordillera in Berlin DE, 2024
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sound field: nearshore was commissioned by Anna Gallagher-Ross, Dave Carey and Ilana Altman for the Bentway, Toronto, to sonify the space around a significant sculptural installation by Striped Canary, Stephen B. Nguyen and Wade Kavanagh US. I was asked to create a durational sonic experience to enliven the sculpture, which depicted the buried underground river system, capped by concrete, and the make the sound of the rushing vehicles above on the Gardiner Expressway, that was the ceiling of this extreme site, become part of the creative sound field.
Anne Bourne composer/ performer, field recordings, cello, piano; Brandon Valdivia tambora; cellos produced by seraphim; spatial design John Gzowski, with thanks to Tom Kuo, Mitchell Akiyama; WHGunn vintage leopard frog field recordings, with thanks to Matt Rogalsky, courtesy of Cornell Archive.
Imagining rivers capped by the rushing concrete highway in cross motion, I play with the perception of time and space, using gesture and magnification of sound. Slowed pace and subsonic, in particle form. Listening through the concrete for resonance and a geological imprint of the underground tributaries. The nearshore, where land meets water, a vibrant more-than-human sound field, inspires a careless song. Cello microtones emulate the sound of trucks passing, to embrace the perpetual tone of the Gardiner, which plays through the heart of our city, as music. Imagine the resonance of this site, in eons, when rivers flow into the great lake system, that opens brackish to deep ocean. What do the underground rivers sound like clear? Walking the nearshore, listening through the concrete, an immersive array of sonics becomes something not heard before, the underground lines of intention, of water.
Anne Bourne
Niagara/ Onguiaahra
Early in the morning we cross over the river that defines the border by train. In reverse, my cello on my back, my finger imprint on their glass, shocked focus returns. I realize where I am. I begin to capture the sense of not falling.
On the sound of reaching to touch . (09:53) video field recording Eyeries, IR 2019. The title was inspired by Jean Luc Nancy’s thought on touch and is the title of the journal distillation with drawings that is in the new book Bodies of Sound on Silver Press, UK 2024. I work thoughts by composing , and I practice composing while deep gazing at the wave patterns of water. Inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci ‘s journal notes on water and John Palmesino, (Territorial Agency,) his thought on directing one’s attention towards a shifted trajectory where you can hold your own values in relation to the ocean. The sonics here a remix from the sound installation Nearshore that was commissioned to animate the sculptural installation Confluence by Vermont based sculptors Striped Canary, produced by The Bentway, 2021. credits: piano, cello improvisations anne bourne, composer anne bourne; sine tone michael white; cellos recorded by seraphim; piano recording anne bourne, courtesy of St Andrews by the Lake; Gratitude to Chalmers Foundation, Christopher Willes, The Bentway, Anna Gallagher-Ross, Striped Canary, for development of this way of electroacoustic composition; The Pink House residency MoM, and to composer Karen Power IR, for the experience of making a field recording of listening to the north atlantic.
Grass IV
composer Anne Bourne
cello/tape loop delay improvisation recorded by Tim Clement, video by Anne Bourne with additional video by Allyson Woodroffe mix Anne Bourne
featuring silvia tarrozzi voice
