Associate Professor of Clarinet Jessica Lindsey, with her musical partner Christy Banks, recently released a new CD of electroacoustic music – the first for the pair of clarinetists, who have performed together as Spatial Forces Duo since 2008. Published by Albany Records, Little Spectacle features seven new works by seven composers, a diverse set of creators that Lindsey and Banks have brought together through their distinctive instrumentation of two clarinets (often including bass clarinet) and electronics.
The choice of composers, including women, African American, LGBTQ, and Millennial composers – reflects Lindsey’s commitment to promoting new voices in music, a research focus that she has developed since coming to UNC Charlotte in 2014. (Her 2018 CD, Set No Limits, featured music for clarinet and piano by women composers, past and present.)
“In early 2016, I embarked upon a research agenda of performing and recording modern art music, focusing on the music of women composers,” Lindsey said. “I researched and discovered many award-winning composers and recorded a selected number of these works on the album, Set No Limits. At that time, I felt good about the diversity represented in the project. In early 2017, after the album was recorded and sent to the label for the process of publication, I learned about the term ‘White-Wave feminism’ and realized that all of the composers on the album were White women. I was embarrassed that my first album did not celebrate the music of composers from a wider variety of backgrounds. Since that time, I have worked to shift my research agenda to be more intersectional by including more composers from the LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.”
Among the Little Spectacle composers are Corey Dundee, UNC Charlotte music alum Meredith Butterworth, and Lindsey, herself. Inspired by the work of contemporary composers she has championed, Lindsey recently began creating electroacoustic works in which she captures a sound sample, manipulates and organizes it, and embeds it among layers of live and recorded sounds to create a unique sonic atmosphere. The two-movement Beast, which closes Little Spectacle, is built around sound samples of a gecko (Mvt. I, “GEcho Chamber”) and a bull (Mvt. II, “Load of Bull”).
The creation of Little Spectacle was funded in part by a UNC Charlotte Faculty Research Grant and a Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts & Science Council.
Spatial Forces Duo will perform music from the CD this Friday, January 7, at Free Range Brewery. Register for this FREE concert at eventbrIte. Proof of vaccination or negative Covid test required for admission.