SASSAS proudly presents sound. at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, a free public concert featuring trombonist and composer Matt Barbier, artist Sarah Petersen, and the artist collaborative Southern California Sound Ecology (SCSE), in widely-varied responses to the Overlook. Commissioned by SASSAS, and performed with the entire Los Angeles basin as a backdrop, these works offer an exciting aural re-imagining of this iconic and historically complex hilltop. Matt Barbier, whose work explores experimental intonation, noise and the physical processes of the trombone, will debut a composition for brass and accordions based on a set of works, Lucid Music for Passing Ships, that explore the imitation of pitch over distance and time and the unpredictable results created by their relations; Sarah Petersen, whose interactive project, Hums, explores the production of sympathetic vibrations in groups, will design a new participatory hum for the environment of the Overlook; and Southern California Sound Ecology will create sonic collages using a combination of natural and ambient sounds sampled on site and played like instruments.
The Baldwin Park Scenic Overlook is unique in the greater Los Angeles area and California State Park system. A historically complex site, the Overlook offers 360 degree views of the Los Angeles Basin as it resides at the juncture of industry and parkland / preserve. Adjacent to the location of the 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam break and just north of an active oil field, the park was the site of a decade long development battle which was successful in fending off a 230-home development, but failed to stop the flat topping of the hill. Parts of the park have been regraded and, “in certain ways the land still looks as though it’s recovering from the earlier violence.” (Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times).
Made possible in part by a Culver City Performing Arts Grant with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
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Matt Barbier is an LA-based trombonist and composer focused primarily in the field of experimental intonation and noise music. Working collaboratively with composers such as Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Ulrich Krieger, and Marc Sabat, he engages with the emerging field of just intonation for brass instruments. His work with von Schweinitz has been highlighted by widely performing JUZ, an expansive work for solo trombone and playback. Barbier is also a founding member of Gnarwhallaby, a Los Angeles-based mixed quartet. He also performs as a member of the critically-acclaimed new music collective wildUp!. He received his education at the Cleveland Institute of Music (BM) and California Institute of the Arts (MFA). Barbier has given guest lectures at CalArts, UBC, and Simon Frasier University. “Lucid Music for Passing Ships” performed by Brian Walsh (saxophone), Matt Barbier (accordion), Kevin Patrick Taylor (accordion), Richard Valitutto (accordion). |
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Sarah Petersen is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice incorporates sound, performance, installation, and the production of signs and signals that others can use to reconsider and intervene in social space. To this end, since 2012 she’s been exploring humming in groups in a variety of contexts. Trained in multiple vocalization and embodiment practices (including Body-Mind Centering, MargolisBrown physical theater training, West African and modern dance, Skinner release technique, vocal training, and Anusara yoga), she has collaborated on numerous performances with other artists, dancers, and choreographers. Additionally, she had the honor of performing experimental improvisational music with Brown Rainbow (Minneapolis) intermittently throughout the ‘oughts with a rotating crew of amazing musicians. She holds an MFA in Art from CalArts (2012), and her work has recently been hosted in Los Angeles by Honor Fraser Gallery, Perform Chinatown, Paramount Ranch Art Fair, Venice 6114, Concord, Center For the Arts Eagle Rock, and the New Wight Gallery at UCLA, in addition to the Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst, Braunschweig, Germany. She has appeared recently in others’ work at Human Resources, Monte Vista Projects, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and OLR Cabaret. This fall, she is teaching at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. “Hum” led by Sarah Peterson, with assistance from Anthony Bodlovic
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 SCSE SCSE stands for Southern California Sound Ecology. SCSE also stands for Southern California Soundscape Ensemble. SCSE is dedicated to fostering a deeper sense of connection to our sonic environment with soundwalks, listening salons, soundscape concerts, and other slow sound activities. SCSE participants set up throughout a space and perform unrehearsed, collaborative soundscapes using only unprocessed field recordings broadcast from individual sources of amplification. SCSE is a regional chapter of the American Society for Acoustic Ecology. SCSE is SCSE is Glenn Bach, j.frede, Shea Gauer, Jorge Martin, Alan Nakagawa, Phil Mantione, Joseph Richard Negro, Jasmine Orpilla, Scott Peterson, Michael Raco-Rands, and Marco Schindelmann. |
