Mantis Sonification Festival and Symposium 3-4 March 2018

Mantis Sonification Festival 3rd and 4th of March 2018

MANTIS Sonification Festival MANTIS (Manchester Theatre in Sound) presents a 2-day symposium on artistic sonification, featuring concerts and paper sessions from researchers and composers based in the North West of England, Europe and beyond.

SATURDAY 3 March 2018 10:30-17:30 18:00- 19:30 20:00 – 21:00

Sonification symposium (paper sessions) Concert ONE Concert TWO

SUNDAY 4 March 2018 14:00-15:00

Concert THREE

SONIFICATION SYMPOSIUM Paper Sessions in collaboration with NWCDTP Paper sessions are being held on the third of March. Full abstracts and biographies can be found at http://son.mantisfestival.com/ Molecular Sonification Noise in Images Mapping Cities with Sound The Red Hen Database as basis for sonification The New Observatory Sonification as a means to generative music Data communications as a musical performance Orchestral Sonification The Virtuoso Project Sonification and Environmental Awareness Outros Registros Data Synchronisation in MAIA, a mixed reality simulation Various Sonification Etudes

Falk Morawitz Michelle Stephens Gloria Lanci Daniel Alcaraz Sam Skinner Ian Baxter Simon Blackmore Núria Bonet Ricardo Climent Michaela Palmer Samuel Van Ransbeeck Ignacio Pecino Master Students at NOVARS

SONIFICATION CONCERT EVENTS AND SOUND INSTALLATIONS MANTIS Sonification Sound Installation Place: Foyer (Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama) Sea Lantern - electroacoustic sound installation, 4-channels David Berezan 4-channel audio incorporating real-time data from sea buoys.

MANTIS Sonification Concert 1 Körper (2017) Arthurs’ Pass (2017) Electromagnetic Fields (2017) Hordijk Live Performance (2018) Touch The Stars (2009)

Antonio D’Amato Harry Ovington Giorgos Stenos-Frantzios Guillaume Dujat, Luke Dobbin Mark Pilkington

Au[bbl].btc (2017) Engi (2017) Sonification Etude (2017) Time Paradox (2015)

Connor Haynes Julian Scordato Yuwen Qin Rosalia Soria-Luz

MANTIS Sonification Concert 2 Oxidising the Spectrum II (2004-2016) Velocia Limite (2017) Neural Plexus Sonification Etude (2017) On The Extinction of a Species (2018)

Ricardo Climent Paolo Pastorino Steve Symons Ed Campell Falk Morawitz

MANTIS Sonification Concert 3 Degung (2016) Fawkes (2017) Electrosantouri (2016) Please don’t slam the door (2017) Metallican Estudio sobre la identidad Regiomontana No. 1: El metro Blyth-Eastbourne-Wembury

Hayley Suviste Connor Haynes Epa Fassianos Giorgos Stenos-Frantzios Hayley Hedges Alberto Jurado Núria Bonet

MANTIS Sonification Concert 1 Programme Notes: Körper (2017)

Antonio D’Amato

Körper is an acousmatic piece entirely based on the elaboration of an acousticpulse sequence which was produced in the course of a MRI diagnostic test. The aesthetic idea implied in the composition refers to the topical and controversial theme known as "global control and censorship”. Through the examination of the constant and continuous information flow, which is either consciously or unconsciously produced by everyone, it is possible to accomplish a condition of control; that condition ought to benefit the national and global security. The question is: How deep or intrusive should the control on individuals be in order guarantee global wellbeing and security? At the moment, there is no univocal answer. Control is not only coercive - it can take the pleasant and subtle appearance of a custom-tailored set of information, directly injected into the communication flows usually employed by individuals. As the occasional intrusion into the personal communication flow is barely noticeable, could the large mass of information, imposed on the users of digital devices, produce a sort of control on the behavior and habits of the individuals? Has that sort of control only a commercial intention? If nowadays cameras and sensors constantly watch movements of the individuals in cities and buildings, can we assume that in the future cells and chemical reactions in our bodies will be scanned and examined in order to gather information to be collected, stored and processed? Technically speaking the

composition uses exclusively a short audio recording of a MRI test. A large number of processes and signal elaboration modules are applied in order to subdue the crude audio sample to the compositional requirements. Spectral editing and resonant filters are chained in order to isolate restricted areas in the whole sound object. The foundation material is clearly revealed only at the very end of the piece. The piece was composed at ZKM studios in Karlsruhe.

Arthurs’ Pass (2017)

Harry Ovington

Arthur’s Pass was composed in 2017, using data sets from weather patterns from a mountainous region in New Zealand, Arthur’s Pass. Numerical values concerning snowfall, rainfall, temperature, wind- speed and moon- phase were used to control manipulation parameters in a bespoke Max MSP patch.

Electromagnetic Fields (2017)

Giorgos Stenos-Frantzios

Electromagnetic Fields is both a musical composition and a mini-study on the sonic properties of electromagnetic waves. Using an inductive coil as a microphone, electromagnetic signals from various electronic devices have been recorded. The sounds are presented absolutely unprocessed so that they refer directly to their original source.

Also, the structure of the piece derives directly from the basic audio typologies that can be observed in the electromagnetic soundscape: Abrupt Gestures - Static Drones (Noisy & Harmonic).

When data is transmitted through electronic circuits, electromagnetic radiation is produced. For example, sending an email with a modern cellphone can prove a really noisy activity when transformed to audible sound. As a result, in this study, what is aurally revealed is not the data itself, but its interaction with the vehicle of transmission.

Reducing the concept of sonification to its core, this study is a sonic representation of the inaudible “language” of electronics circuits.

Hordijk Live Performance (2018)

Guillaume Dujat, Luke Dobbin

Luke Dobbin and Guillaume Dujat present a live piece on the Hordijk modular synthesiser at NOVARS. Using data sent from MAX into the synth, they have worked on creating this live data-driven performance.

Touch The Stars (2009) Mark Pilkington Touch the Stars is a networked electroacoustic performance that maps live astronomical data in a sound producing algorithmic. Music made with distributed music ensembles and controlled lab experiments both yielded paradoxical results that prompt new questions relating to time in performance and ensemble "production".

In March 2009, I was co-commissioned by FutureEverything and the Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Manchester, to compose a composition to be performed at the inauguration of the FutureEverything Festival 2009, Manchester UK. This resulted in a networked performance in collaboration with Dr Tim O'Brien (Associate Director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory). It became apparent that, in our research, we both used the

process of 'sonification' as an auditory enhancement of information data. Sonification is an auditory process that presents a perceptual experience in which meaning is derived from a musical or sonic abstraction of numerical data (arriving in this case from a remote radio telescope). The decision was made to produce a performance that combined electroacoustic and radio astronomy practices to create a live interactive networked performance.

Au[bbl].btc (2017)

Connor Haynes

Au[Bbl].btc is a data sonification work which implements the use of data mapping drawn from various data sets on the price of gold, crude oil and bitcoin over the past 30 years. It is a reflection of the importance of various metaphysical mediums in which currency is meticulously referenced to, which govern and have a profound effect on economies transitioning into the digital age. The piece has been arranged from using the 'raw' audio data sonification mappings to create a more 'composed' work, and applies sounds from spinning coins, oil and Hordijk modular synthesizers. The result is an intense frenzy of fluctuating sonic atmospheres with clear sections suited for a fast track 30 years.

Engi (2017)

Julian Scordato

Engi is an audiovisual work based on an artistic sonification of stellar data related to the north polar constellations. Sound parameters are represented graphically and defined by certain observation data as well as physical characteristics of stars: sound duration is proportional to the distance from the Earth, amplitude is calculated considering the apparent magnitude, while main frequency changes randomly according to the spectral class. Six temporal dimensions are added in order to activate the stars with a combinatorial system that virtually produces a perpetual change. Starting from these simple elements for sound generation, this work assumes a certain complexity through the interaction between electronic sounds in a feedback network capable of processing them both diachronically and synchronically, thanks to a series of interconnected processing units. Thus, sound elements no longer exist just as intrinsic and independent entities; they become instead strongly characterised by global processes that transform them as part of the network.

Sonification Etude (2017)

Yuwen Qin

Time Paradox (2015)

Rosalia Soria-Luz

Although time traveling seems to be impossible, nothing prevents our minds from transporting us to past or future places and events. Time Paradox combines synthetic sounds with the resonating nature of traditional singing bowls. They represent the contradiction between thoughts from the past, present and future, all real, living in our minds as if they were frozen in time. It is only because of our awareness of time that they can be seen as causes or effects, as old or new, or just as a feeling from our present.

MANTIS Sonification Concert 2 Programme Notes: Oxidising the Spectrum II (2004-2016) Velocia Limite (2017) Neural Plexus Sonification Etude (2017) On The Extinction of a Species (2018) Oxidising the Spectrum (2004)

Ricardo Climent Paolo Pastorino Steve Symons Ed Campell Falk Morawitz Ricardo Climent

“Oxidising the spectrum” (2004) is an interdisciplinary collaboration between composer Ricardo Climent and chemical engineer Quan Gan, who trained him for a year in his chemistry laboratory at Queens University of Belfast. The piece explores the possibilities of Microbial electrochemistry in the compositional environment, while reinventing the chemistry laboratory as a musical instrument. The system generates electricity for musical mapping via biological patterns from Microbial Fuel Cells. It includes five families of microbial cultures (the Microbial Ensemble), which behave as a musical quintet.

Compositionally, the manipulation of live organisms seeks to "re-engineer the process of sonification" by reconstructing electrical patterns that are sonically tested. After being trained by Dr Gan for a year at the chemistry laboratory at Queens University of Belfast, Climent constructed the Interactive system and the piece.

This live bio-simulator virtual version was first presented at the ZKM’s sonification symposium in 2016, created in Unreal Game Engine 4. The project was supported by ACNI and Belfast City Council.

Velocia Limite (2017)

Paolo Pastorino

VELOCITÀ LIMITE is triggered by a consideration of the speed and amount of information which we are exposed to in each moment of our lives and of human actions. The problem clearly focuses on a very narrow temporal dimension (from the 1980s to the present) which includes technological, and consequently socially very important changes.

The path taken by Western societies, ranging from pre-industrial to post-industrial age, seems to be characterised not by a linear trend but by a steep curve. Speed is a central parameter in our daily life, but we must take into account the damage that this can cause to our consciousness. Our inner balance is at risk as mankind races towards the future reaching a limit speed, to which we are struggling to adapt; this leaves less time for important processes such as critical attention and thinking.

Neural Plexus

Steve Symons

Neural Plexus is a sequencer based on Neuronal Synthesis.

I have been fascinated with sonifying neural output and simulations of neural behaviour for over 15 years. I am not alone in this endeavour, other researchers of Neural Synthesis notably include David Tudor, and the commercial company Prosoniq. Rather than create large scale artificial neural networks I am more interested in the wide range of patterns that emerge from a small (8 to 12) series of simulated neurons.

The simulated neurons in Neural Plexus are based on simulating the changes in ion concentrations inside and outside the neuron, that lead to it to firing when certain conditions are met. It should be noted that this simulation runs many order of times slower than the real-world equivalent.

Connected neurons send signals to each other when they fire and connecting a series into a loop means they fire in a repeating pattern. The performer can compose new patterns on the fly by changing the connections between neurons and by adjusting the responsiveness of individual neurons.

The Neural Plexus software (Processing) and hardware (Arduino) interface enables such manipulation of the simulated network. The current version has 8 neurons; each is represented on screen and a bespoke interface allows the performer to easily interconnect neurons and to adjust their response characteristics.

The present version of Neural Plexus has two layers of sonification (Supercollider). Firstly the internal ion concentration of each neuron is used to modulate a simple sine-wave based synthesis system and secondly the act of firing can be used to trigger a filter-based envelope, with the filter being controlled by the neuron’s excitation level at firing.

The initial stages of Neural Plexus were developed at a residency at NOVARS with the kind support of Prof. Ricardo Climent Sonification Etude (2017)

Ed Campell

On The Extinction of a Species (2018)

Falk Morawitz

“The people of each generation perceive the state of the ecosystems they encountered in their childhood as normal and natural. When wildlife is depleted, we might notice the loss, but we are unaware that the baseline by which we judge the decline is in fact a state of extreme depletion. […] Few people younger than me know that it was once normal to see fields white with mushrooms, or rivers black with eels at the autumn equinox, or that every patch of nettles was once reamed by caterpillars. I can picture a moment at which the birds stop singing, and people wake up and make breakfast and go to work without noticing that anything has changed.” – George Monbiot

MANTIS Sonification Concert 3 Programme Notes: Degung (2016) Fawkes (2017) Electrosantouri (2016) Please don’t slam the door (2017) Metallican Estudio sobre la identidad Regiomontana No. 1: El metro Blyth-Eastbourne-Wembury Degung (2016)

Hayley Suviste Connor Haynes Epa Fassianos Giorgos Stenos-Frantzios Hayley Hedges Alberto Jurado Núria Bonet Hayley Suviste

Degung is a set of three acousmatic miniatures that collectively explore the musical and spiritual characteristics of the gamelan (specifically the University of Manchester’s Sudanese Degung). In Indonesian traditional thinking the gamelan is sacred and is

believed to have supernatural power. Degung follows the gamelan on its journey from its natural form and sound to the completely transformed and supernatural.

Fawkes (2017)

Connor Haynes

Fawkes reflects the annual celebration of Guy Fawkes night in a surrealist context, whilst also displaying how Guy Fawkes’ image has been adopted to become somewhat a symbol of a post-modern cyper-anarchism. This is reflected/referenced in the composition by arranging sounds such as catholic hymns, fireworks and computers. An emphasis on time and space has been implemented when constructing this piece, and contains mostly self recorded sounds, although some Hordijk modular synthesizer sounds and samples have also been used. The catholic hymn has been sampled, and is a hymn composed by Sergei Rachmaninov.

Electrosantouri (2016)

Epa Fassianos

Electrosantouri is a stereo fixed-media acousmatic work which includes soundworlds emerging from a traditional Greek instrument called "Santouri". The "Santouri" is mainly used for Greek traditional ceremonies, mainly in Greek islands but also in the mainland. I was inspired by Orestis Karamanlis' work called: "Chaos" (2008). Karamanlis' work was place specific as it included sounds recorded in a cave located in a Greek island. At the same time, original Santouri melodies were superimposed over the cave sounds and this gave the piece a stronger sense of identity. Inspired from this work, I recorded samples of Santouri sounds as well as Santouri melodies, performed by professional Santouri performer Panagiotis Vergos, in his studio in Athens. For my piece, I decided to make use of this instrument as follows: exploration of pitch and use of the instrument's idiomatic sound as a basis for the creation of transformed soundworlds which form their very own identity.

Please don’t slam the door (2017)

GiorgosStenos-Frantzios

Please don’t slam the door / Mancunian Snapshots is a brisk collage of sound fragments captured in Manchester city centre during winter 2017. All kind of daily life’s details, funny moments, mini tragedies, street chats and noises are mashed up in quickly passing blocks of sound, constituting a fragmented personal portrait of the city. Sonic glimpses of private and public sphere - inside and outside the doors - are brought together as a spontaneous reaction to a separated and contrasting social life. Perception and time get blurred through the constant interplay between real and surreal and repetitions of same sonic material placed in different contexts.

Metallican Audio

Hayley Hedges

Metallican (2013). We are taken through aural ‘snapshots’ of a box being filled gradually with insects. Metallican is a single sound source composition, consisting of a range of recordings of soft drink cans, as suggested in the title. I entitled my composition Metallican as I wanted the word ‘can’ in the title; it came from the word ‘Metallica’, a genus of beetle in the Carabidae (ground beetle) family. Adding an ‘n’ links the insect box back to the metallic can.

Estudio sobre la identidad Regiomontana No. 1: El metro

Alberto Jurado

First piece of a series that intends to take sounds from the author’s home city and explore them to create a landscape of the sounds that identify the inhabitants of the city and their rituals.

Born and raised in the City of Monterrey, MĂŠxico, the author begins his studies in Music, Piano, and Composition, including electroacoustic techniques, at the UANL at the age of 17, continuing to do so to the present day.

Blyth-Eastbourne-Wembury

NĂşria Bonet

Blyth-Eastbourne-Wembury could be described as an electroacoustic musification: a data sonification for artistic purposes which uses musical structures to transmit data. The piece uses data describing the sea temperature at Eastbourne since 1892, and the salinity data of the English Channel from 2002-04. Interestingly, the average monthly sea temperature since 1971 has consistently been higher than for previous years. This worrying temperature increase is translated through the use of dissonance, as average temperatures are mapped to audible frequencies and juxtaposed. The use of a coastal soundscape - ranging from the natural sounds of Wembury beach to the sound of traffic at Plymouth's Sutton Harbour - contextualises the data sonification in a musically meaningful manner.

Biographies

Hayley Suviste is a Postgraduate composer based at the NOVARS research centre and a BMus graduate also from the University of Manchester.

Antonio D’Amato graduated at conservatory in Piano, Harpsichord, Music for Multimedia, Music Pedagogy, Electronic Music and in 2017 in Audio Engineering. He also studied Composition for eight years, Bassoon for three years, Baroque Organ, Ondes Martenot in Strasbourg and Paris, and later Sonology at ESMUC in Barcelona. Some of his instrumental works are published by Forton Music, U.K. His first electronic composition was selected for a performance during the ICMC 2012 Conference. In summer 2015 he was trainee at ExperimentalStudio des SWR in Freiburg, and in 2016 at ZKM in Karlsruhe.

His works have been performed in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Slovenia, Sweden, Taiwan, UK and USA. Harry Ovington is an electroacoustic composer from the south of England. For the last six months he has exclusively composed via sonification, with Arthur’s Pass being the final piece composed in this fashion. He also composes for short films and visual art, whilst also composing and producing his own contemporary electronic music.

Giorgos Stenos-Frantzios is a sonic scavenger. Whenever he stops looking for new potential sound sources in the kitchen or trash he is transformed into a composer, performer of improvised music or sound device maker. He has composed music for ensembles, fixed media, installations and theatre, and his live performances include saxophone, amplified objects, prepared turntable and electronics. After finishing his Integrated Master’s in Audiovisual Arts at the Ionian University, Greece, he is now a postgraduate student of Electroacoustic Music and Interactive Media Composition at the University of Manchester.

Guillaume Dujat (b.1993) is a French sound artist and electroacoustic composer based in the UK (Manchester). He is currently doing his PhD at the NOVARS research centre (University of Manchester).

Luke Dobbin is an experimental composer from Northern Ireland, based in Manchester.

His work is based around controlling synthesis through varied interactive methods, with a focus on modular synthesis.

Mark Pilkington is an electroacoustic composer, performer and visual artist based in Manchester UK. He works in areas of electroacoustic composition, screened works, installation and live performance. His music has been commissioned by the School of Computer Science the University of Manchester, Arts Council England, PRSF, SPNM, Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the National Youth Theatre. Performed and screened at ICMC, ARS Electronica, MANTIS festival and Open Circuit Festival.

Julian Scordato is a composer, sound artist and music technologist. He studied Composition (BA) and Electronic Music (MA) at the Conservatory of Venice. He completed a Master's Degree in Sound Art at the University of Barcelona with a thesis on

IanniX software documentation. Co-founding member of the Arazzi Laptop Ensemble, research assistant for the Sound and Music Processing Lab at the Conservatory of Padua, he works as a professor of Electronic Music at the Conservatory of Brescia. As an author and speaker, Scordato has presented results related to interactive performance systems and graphic notation in the context of conferences and workshops. His award-winning electroacoustic and audiovisual works have been performed and exhibited in over 100 festivals and institutions. Among these are Venice Biennale, Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Instituto Cervantes (Rio de Janeiro), Gaudeamus Music Week (Utrecht), Festival Punto de Encuentro (Valencia), Sonorities Festival (Belfast), Seoul International Computer Music Festival, Art & Science Days (Bourges), Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (Stanford), Muestra de Música Electroacústica MUSLAB (Mexico City), Contemporary Music Research Center (Athens), Spektrum Art Science Community (Berlin), and New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. His music has been broadcast by RAI Radio3, NAISA Webcast, RadioCemat, Radio Papesse, Radio UNAM, RadioCona, Radiophrenia, Ràdio Gràcia, and Radio Círculo. His scores have been published by Ars Publica and Taukay Edizioni Musicali.

Connor Haynes enrolled onto the MusM Composition (Electro-acoustic) in September 2017, after previously graduating from SSR Manchester. Coming from a sound engineering background, Connor has been composing Electro-acoustic music for a limited period and will showcase his best and most recent work at the 2018 MANTIS festival. He also currently engages in various other projects in the music industry, for example, in 2016 he released an EP under the experimental electronica producer pseudonym Kin, and he is also part of the avant-garde post punk collective Slow Knife. Connor will be diffusing Au[Bbl].btc and Fawkes at the MANTIS festival in March 2018, with both compositions displaying intense sonic atmospheres with surrealist undertones.

Rosalia Soria-Luz is a Mexican composer based in Freiburg, Germany, and currently a member of the National System for the Creation of Arts in Mexico. Her research is focused on multi- channel composition using state-space models and sonification. She completed a PhD in Electroacoustic Composition at NOVARS Research Centre at the University of Manchester in 2016. She studied composition at the “Conservatorio de las Rosas” in Michoacán, México. She also completed an MSc in Electronics Engineering at Michoacán State University UMSNH in Mexico in 2010. In 2012 she received the prestigious PDS award to study for a PhD in Music at the University of Manchester. Her works include fixed media multichannel and mixed media pieces.

Ricardo Climent (*1965), composer, Professor of Interactive Music Composition at University of Manchester, UK, where he serves as director of the NOVARS Research Centre and as head of Composition. For the last few years his research has focused on the potential of game-audio, physics and graphic engines for compositional purposes, using ‘the aural’ as the primary source for navigation and sonification. He previously held a lecturing position at SARC, (Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast), served as resident composer at the JOGV Orchestra, Spain; Unesco-Aschberg resident at Conservatorio of Morelia in Mexico; Sonology - Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo; LEA labs, at the Conservatorio of Valencia; the Cushendall Tower- In you we trust; Northern Ireland, at CARA- Celebrating Arts in rural Areas, cross-border Ireland, N.K. Berlin and at the Push

Festival, Sweden. For more electro-acoustic.com; game-audio.org; novars.manchester.ac.uk.

Paolo Pastorino (08/12/1983) is an Italian guitarist, sound designer, and composer. Since 2006 he has worked as sound engineer for some Rock, Industrial and Nu-Metal bands. He studied and graduated in computer music and sound technology at the Conservatory of Sassari and he specialised in new music technologies at the Conservatory of Cagliari. In his compositions he uses electronic instruments and algorithms realised by software, as well as electronically elaborated traditional instruments and other concrete elements.

So, his experience does not only regard traditional and electronic composing, but the implementation of control systems for live electronics and audio installations. His works have been presented at OUA Electroacoustic Music Festival (Osaka University Of Arts), Dias de Música Electroacústica (Portugal), Homeostasis lab Biennale, Festival Contemporanea Acusmatica (Udine -Italy), Festival SpazioMusica (Cagliari - Italy), PLAY900 (Museo Novecento – Firenze - Italy), Festival MUSLAB (Buenos Aires Argentina), Datscha Radio 17 festival (Berlin), Microtopies 2017 (Barcelona), Venice Electroacoustic Rendez-Vous (Conservatory of Venice - Italy), Elektro Arts 2017 (Romania), Klingt gut! International Symposium on Sound (Hamburg), Forum Wallis 2017 Festival International de Musique Contemporaine (Switzerland), Seoul International Computer Music Festival 2017 (Asia Culture Center, Gwangju), EX_NIHILO 2017 (Mexico), NSEME 2017 Louisiana State University (USA), San Francisco Tape Music Festival 2017 (USA), Mixtur 2017 (Barcelona), NWEAMO Festival (Tokyo), CIM (Cagliari - IT), EMUFest (Rome - IT), CIRMMT (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology - Montréal), 3ème Concours International de Composition pour un instrument acoustique et dispositif électronique (Bourges, France), Inter #6: experimental sound for loudspeakers (Glasgow - UK), DronesTruck Como (Midway Parkway St. Paul, Minnesota, USA), Galleria comunale d’arte di Cagliari (Italy).

Yuwen Qin is a PGT student at the NOVARS research centre.

Steve Symons is a sound artist working with technology. Since 1998 he has developed a wide ranging practice from an innovative series of sonic augmented reality projects titled 'aura' to a-life sonic forms and multi-user phone based interaction. He is also a member of the award winning arts collective, Owl Project. His core interests revolve around the representation and engagement with systems in sonic art, which he explores through building and playing novel instruments for musical expression. The resulting interactive systems are usually playable by more than one person at a time, which for him, opens fascinating possibilities for artistic expression. He undertook a residency at NOVARS in 2015 that saw the development of 2 pieces Kokino (shown at MANTIS) and Neural Plexus (premiered at DIEM October 2017). He runs muio.org Ltd as an Art and Technology Interface Consultancy to facilitate his practice, research, artwork and the technology created in its realisation. Muio.org has acted as a distribution point for several free and opensource systems and builds technical interfaces for artists and organisations, recent examples being a set of 10 wireless seats for the Edinburgh Festival, a series of trigerable mp3 players and educational interfaces for museums and hospitals, an interactive playground swing and a networked 3 screen and 7 speaker surround sound project.

Recently he has started working with Ray Lee developing his Magic Sphere’s project.

2010 launched Gigzine, an integrated suite of tools that enables music venues, bands and promoters to create interactive media channels with a mobile phone wielding audience.

Gigzine grew from New Music Plus... a year long fellowship by the PRSformusic Foundation. He is also a member of the Owl Project (http://www.owlproject.com), a three person collaboration (himself, Simon Blackmore and Anthony Hall) who make sculptural sonic interfaces that critique human desire for technology. The Owl Project have recently been nominated for the Northern Art Prize (UK) short-listed for the International ShareIT prize (Italy) and awarded the Best of Manchester Award (09) and one of the Artists Taking the Lead commission for the Cultural Olympiad (£500k).

Ed Campell is a postgraduate student at the NOVARS research centre.

Falk Morawitz is a PhD composer and sound artist based at the Novars Research Centre Manchester. He explores the use of molecular sonification - the transformation of atomic vibrations and oscillations into sound - as a novel tool for electroacoustic music composition. These explorations range from purely aesthetic inquiries to creative works concerned with political, ecological and environmental challenges such as global warming, or the refugee crisis. His portfolio encompasses acousmatic compositions, music for moving images, sound art as well as sound-driven virtual reality environments created using game engines. His works have been shown at the International Computer Music Conference (Utrecht), the Centre for Arts and Media (ZKM, Karlsruhe), Engine Room (London), Laboratory (Spokane, USA) among others.

Epa Fassianos [b.1982] originates from Athens, Greece. He has attended both the University of York (MA in Music Technology) and the University of Sussex (MA in Composition for Media and Film and MPhil in Musical Composition). His BA in Greece was in Informatics and Computer Technology. He also obtained his Piano Diploma in 2003 with Professor Dimitris Toufexis. In parallel, he has obtained Diplomas in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue respectively. He has a deep interest in film music composition and he has written music for silent films by filmmaker Stan Brakhage. As part of his MA in Composition for Media and Film, he rescored Godfrey Reggio's film "Koyaanisqatsi" (original music composed by Philip Glass). At the moment he is a fourth-year PhD student in acousmatic music at the University of Manchester (NOVARS Research Centre), under the supervision of Professor David Berezan. His area of interest for his PhD is: Creating works of acousmatic music based on aspects of Greek Culture [Religion, Traditional Greek Instruments, Mythology] Hayley Hedges is currently studying for a Masters in Electroacoustic Composition at the University of Manchester. She previously studied a BA in Music at Liverpool Hope University from 2010 to 2013.

David Berezan has acted, since 2003, as Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios and MANTIS (Manchester Theatre in Sound) at The University of Manchester (UK). In 2012 he was appointed Professor in Electroacoustic Music Composition. After completing a BA in History (1988) at the University of Calgary, a Diploma in Composition (1996) at Grant MacEwan College (Edmonton) and a MMus in Composition (2000) at the University of Calgary, he moved to the UK and completed a PhD in Electroacoustic Composition (2003) at the University of Birmingham (UK).

Berezan has been awarded in the Klang! (France, 2015), Music Viva (Portugal, 2012), Bourges (France, 2002), Luigi Russolo (Italy, 2002), Radio Magyar (Hungary, 2001), São Paulo (Brazil, 2003, ’05), L’espace du son (Belgium, 2002) and JTTP (Canada, 2000) competitions.

He has worked in residence in the studios of the University of Calgary (Canada, 2011), Université de Montréal (Québec, 2011), CMMAS (Mexico, 2011), EMS (Sweden, 2011, ’12), VICC (Sweden, 2011, ’12, ‘14), The Banff Centre of the Arts (Canada, 2000, ’07), ZKM’s Institut für Musik und Akustik (Germany, 2007), Ina-GRM (France, 2007), IMEB (France, 2007), ESB (Switzerland, 2005), and Tamagawa University (Japan, 2007).

His work is published by Empreintes DIGITALes (Montreal, Canada). http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/berezan_da/

Ignacio Pecino initially studied Physics at the University of Seville (Spain) but soon focused on sound, music and interactive media, starting a career as a composer, sound engineer and software developer. He completed his BMus (Hons) Degree in Music Composition at the “Conservatorio Superior de Malaga”, where he also worked as a sound engineer. In 2007, he attended master classes with members of the INA-GRM in Paris Daniel Teruggi, Parmegiani Bernard and Francois Bayle, increasing his interest for electroacoustic music and other avant-garde genres. As a researcher at The University of Manchester (MA, PhD) he investigated technical and fundamental aspects of locative audio and procedural composition using the Unity Game Engine ("Dynamic Audio Composition via Space and Motion in Virtual and Augmented Environments"). These disciplines were explored in the context of electroacoustic music composition and they are strongly informed by issues of accessibility and perceptual organisation (multimodality), using recursion and emergent phenomena as a means to minimise visual information and reinforce musical gesture and spatialisation. As a software developer, in 2012 Ignacio founded the independent studio Recursive Arts (https://recursivearts.com), specialising in Unity game and app development with a focus on GIS/locative audio, procedural art, virtual instruments, and mixed reality (VR/AR). As a composer, Ignacio Pecino has premiered acousmatic, audiovisual and interactive works at multiple international festivals including: IX Symposium (Montreal), Primavera en la Habana (Cuba), AudioMostly (Corfu, Greece), MANTIS Festival (Manchester, UK), NIME (Baton Rouge, USA), NYEMF (New York), MAEM (Madrid) and Festival Zeppelin (Barcelona). His research output also includes articles, conference presentations and academic papers in specialised publications such as ICMC, RMA Research Conferences, Filomúsica or SulPonticello. Full curriculum available at: http://ignaciopecino.com/

M A N T I S (Manchester Theatre in Sound) Since 2004, MANTIS has biannually presented concerts of music and sound, featuring compositions and performances enhanced by the use of new technology and digital media. MANTIS combines a broad array of sonic events, which range from the live diffusion of acousmatic works on a 56-loudspeaker sound system (using the unique MANTIS System), to live electronics, analogue, audio-visual, new-media and live instrumental and electronics events involving large ensemble groups on stage. A key aspiration of MANTIS is to promote, disseminate and perform new works from electroacoustic composers based at The University of Manchester.

Concerts normally take place at the Martin Harris Centre at the University of Manchester, but we have also taken festival events to a number of venues in Manchester and the Northwest, such as the Victoria Baths and the Whitworth Art Gallery. We also contribute to our local musical scene by having regular smaller-scale concerts at The Greenroom, Nexus Arts Cafe and more recently at MadLab, in the Northern Quarter (run by our students at the University of Manchester). A central focus of MANTIS composers' research is experimentation within different acoustic spaces and with new audiences. MANTIS concerts have taken place in Salford, Lancaster, Valencia (Spain) and Liverpool.

In the past, MANTIS has run the festival in collaboration with Sonic Arts Network EXPO, LICA in Lancaster, the North Wales Music Exchange Conference, Digital Media Valencia, IDKA-Sweden, NK-Berlin, empreintes DIGITALes and performers: Esther Lamneck (clarinet), Elizabeth McNutt (flute), Neil Heyde, BBC Singers (with LICA), Kairos Electronic Ensemble, Christophe de Bezenac (Saxophone), Christion Sebille (Computer), Adam Melvin (saxophone), David Lewis (Percussion), Tom McKinney (Guitar), IĂąigo Ibaibarriaga (Saxophones), Idoia Zabaleta (dance), Luo Chao-yun (Pipa) and Chen Waikai (Tai-chi improviser), Trio Atem and Psappha.

Since 2004, the MANTIS festival has hosted many composers and guest artists including Jonty Harrison, Francis Dhomont, Annette Vande Gorne, Pete Stollery, Rajmil Fischman, Denis Smalley, John Young, Andrew Lewis, Barry Truax, Adrian Moore and many others.

N O V A R S Research Centre Work undertaken by the NOVARS Research Centre based in the Studios has consistently achieved the highest success and international profile, sustaining a high level of esteem for the Studios. Research specialisms include Acousmatic Composition, Sonification, Machine Musicianship and Interactivity, Sound Spatialisation and Diffusion, Performance and Technology and Sound-Art. For more information: www.novars.manchester.ac.uk/research/intro/index.html Festival Support: NOVARS Research Centre and the department of Music (University of Manchester)

Thank-you: Mantis Audiences MANTIS crew and volunteers and stewards NOVARS Research Centre Music Technician: Jon Tipler Martin Harris Centre Technical staff: Karl Spencer and Tom Pearce Martin Harris Centre Events Team (Amy Jones, Anne-Marie Nugnes, Emma Rayner, Nathan Mannion, Hannah Garret, Anne Brandolani) and director Mark Woolstencroft.

Music Department