The piece is inspired by the act of operating effects and loop pedals (which can often turn one person into a band/orchestra). Standard electronic effects, such as reverb, echo, distortion and feedback will be mimicked in each of the sections marked by a bold caption. The bold text indicates the mood and effect of the section that was translated and adapted for strings.
Studio Collective
Runner Up of the Walter & Dinah Wolfe Memorial Award
Collision [A Dream] is a piece written for solo violin and electronics for Daniel Pioro and the 2021 Dinah Wolfe Memorial Prize.
Collision [A Dream] was inspired by a dream, in which someone is standing on a beach by the dead sea. The water is red and the person we see digs their toes deeply into the wet sand. Carefully, they start moving towards the sea and decide to go for a swim. Feeling light as air, the body is drifted by a current far into the horizon. Slowly they dive deep into the water, open their eyes, and see stars from another world shining brightly. The dead sea has turned into a cloud carrying the person. They turn around and find themselves surrounded by mist and water until they suddenly gasp for air, ending up at the shore of a beach somewhere familiar.
In this piece, the dream is mirrored through a soundscape consisting of distorted drones and delicate string harmonics. The electronic track and live violin music blend into each other and create a dream-like feeling of ambiguity. The piece provides an invitation to sink into this sonic environment through a guided improvisation, led by both the electronic track and performer.
Violin: Daniel Pioro
Sonia Killmann is a composer and sound artist, currently completing a postgraduate degree in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Inspired by composers such as Alvin Lucier and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, she has been exploring the relationship between sound and environment. Her works often involve field recordings, as well as a mixture of live processing and acoustic music. She is especially interested in composing music that merges with the performance space and creates a more immersive experience.
Sonia is also a saxophone player and performs with her duo Failed System Test in various venues around Glasgow. They have also just released their second EP {unshift} with Dead Hound Records, which Sonia helped co-produce. Following their two releases, Sonia has created ambient radio mixes for the label’s radio show as part of Failed System Test.
In addition, she creates sound and music for her podcast Albumly that has recently released an interview with Scottish composer and RCS graduate Fergus Hall and is to release further interviews with independent international artists.
She is also interested in the conjunction of movement and sound, which sparked some collaborations with Ballet dancers, such as Yasmine Naghdi, Constant Vigier and award-winning filmmaker Jamiel Laurance.
