Phil Thomson, ComposerCategory Archives: Music
New track: tranvel
Short video excerpts of ‘Taking Your Experience for Mine’
Choreographer extraordinaire Sara Coffin has uploaded a ‘trailer’ for her recent evening-length work Taking Your Experience for Mine, for which I wrote the music.
“There is no stereo; the stereo is everywhere.”
I believe I first encountered the work of Radigue when I was in grad school. Her works are massive yet also somewhat wraith-like. Large and spacious, but also intimate. You could call it ‘drone music’ if you wanted, but that misses the specificity and richness of her work. It’s about sound, duration, scale, corporeality, … As a first stop, I would recommend checking out the Trilogie de la Mort, but there are lots of other works for you to peruse.
If you would like a bit of background on her work before or while you listen, why not check out this interview in Frieze magazine. It covers her approach to space, her relation with Tibetan Buddhism, her recent turn from electroacoustics to acoustic instruments, among other aspects.
New track(s)
I have posted a new track:
I also recently posted a new version of a previously posted track:
Both of these are part of a five-track EP I am working on.
Enjoy!
taking your experience for mine
Tagged as contemporary dance, music, Phil Thomson, Sara Coffin, ScotiaBank Dance Centre, Vancouver
I have been working on music for a dance piece by Sara Coffin, a recent winner of the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award. The work is called taking your experience for mine, and performances are coming up at the ScotiaBank Dance Centre on April 29 & 30. Tickets are $15 on April 29 (International Dance Day!) and $25 & $18 on the 30th. You can book online!
Working with Sara is always a treat, and we have worked together many times in the past. Our collaboration this time has been a lot more ‘hands-off’ than usual, due to my busy schedule, but once in a while I get to hang out in the studio with Sara and the dancers, which is where I belong after all!
The music for this work is a bit of a departure for me, in that a lot of it is quite beat-oriented. I have done the odd beat-oriented thing in the past, mostly when writing for dance, but most of the choreography seemed to demand a more hip and ‘electronica’-type score. I’ve really enjoyed getting in touch with my inner electronica artist, though this music is quite a bit more rhythmically complex than most of the ‘four-on-the-floor’ electronic music out there.
Sara’s choreography is developing quite nicely. She has always had a nice movement vocabulary in her shorter works, and it’s nice to see her stretch out into an evening-length work. I think she’s doing a great job of tackling a lot of the formal problems that such a work entails.
I hope you can make it out to the show if you are in town!
taking your experience for mine. Choreography by Sara Coffin. Music by Phil Thomson.
Introduction
Tagged as composer for contemporary dance, Phil Thomson, Vancouver
Phil Thomson is a Vancouver-based composer of experimental electronic music. His music has been released on labels around the world, broadcast on CBC, and heard in concert in Canada, the US and abroad. He has written music for dance by several choreographers, most notably Sara Coffin. His writings have been published online and by Cambridge University Press.
He composed the music for Sara Coffin’s evening-length work taking your experience for mine.
Working with choreographer James Gnam, he composed the music for Gnam’s endORPHIN, performed by the plastic orchid factory.
In residence at the Ross Creek Arts Centre, he produced the music for How Much Is Too Much? by SINS, choreographed by Sara Coffin. He has also produced music for Coffin’s bOdYbOUnd and an untitled dance by Jennifer Clarke.
He was commissioned by Vancouver New Music to present a piece in their festival of music by John Cage.
Phil completed his MFA at SFU in 2005. His graduating project, Machine Languages, was presented at Video In (now VIVO).
Phil has also written music for acoustic instruments. These works have been heard at the Sonic Boom Festival in Vancouver and elsewhere.
Phil is always on the lookout for opportunities to collaborate with other artists in any media. Though he prefers face-to-face collaborations, Internet-based collaborations are also a possibility. If you are interested in working with him, please drop him a line.
