CMMAS Collaboration

Fulcrum Point has united with Morelia, Mexico, to bring the fusion of new music and technological innovation to Chicago. ¡Revolución! is an interactive music experience, premiering the groundbreaking work of renowned composer Javier Álvarez for an inspired culminating performance. Álvarez’s premiere will be complimented by the work of fellow Latin American composers, including Rodrigo Sigal, Orlando Garcia, and Gabriela Ortiz.

COLLABORATION WITH CMMAS

In 2017, we forged an exciting relationship with the Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Arts (CMMAS) in Morelia, Mexico. The CMMAS is the main space in Latin America for contemporary music and the experimental sonic arts. Through CMMAS, we partnered with esteemed Mexican composer Javier Álvarez Fuentes. Álvarez is a Mexican composer who is known for creating works that combine a variety of international musical styles and traditions that often utilize unusual instruments and new music technologies. According to composer John Adams, “The music of Javier Álvarez reveals influences of popular cultures that go beyond the borders of our own time and place.” Álvarez is one of the best-known Mexican composers of his generation. 

MUSIC MEETS TECH

At the core of this event is the incorporation of exciting new music technologies.

Music Tech Jam: October 20th & 21st, 2017, at Blue 1647 Tech Innovation Center, Fulcrum Point organized students from Latina Girls Code in a music and technology event. This Music Tech Jam empowered Latino students to develop an interactive music tool that will be integral to Álvarez’s world premiere. The participants will learned to use Pure Data (PD), a visual programming language for creating interactive computer music, and explored a composer’s creative process to build upon Shortwave, an existing music app for audience interaction built by Joel Corelitz. At the end of the two day event, a panel of judges determined from a specified rubric the winner of the Music Tech Jam. The winning collaboration was highly influential in Álvarez’s final composition. We worked with the People’s Music School to create a second music hackathon later that week. 

Shortwave: We partnered with our friend, composer, and sound designer Joel Corelitz and his smartphone app, Shortwave. The music technology allow creative interaction between performance and audience members in real time, allowing for a collaborative concert experience. Get excited: audience members will have the opportunity to utilize Shortwave and participate throughout the final performance simply by pulling out their phones and getting creative!

¡REVOLUCIÓN! WORLD PREMIERE BY JAVIER ÁLVAREZ

Álvarez will debuted his final composition at ¡Revolución! on October 28, 2018 at Constellation, 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL followed by the Latin American premiere hosted by CMMAS in Mexico. 

 This program was made possible by The MacArthur International Connections Fund.