thee Doug Van Nort Electro-Acoustic Orchestra (2020-present)

thee Doug Van Nort Electro-Acoustic Orchestra is an ensemble comprised of a mixture of acoustic and electronic performers. It is an emergent sonic organism that evolves through collective attention to all facets of sound, software instruments and text/graphic pieces created by Van Nort, and gesture-based real-time composition in combination with a growing repertoire of these pre-composed structures that are fluidly traversed and integrated spontaneously during performance. The gestural-compositional conducting language used with the group draws upon Van Nort’s experience in electroacoustic improvisation and its unique approach to sound sculpting, shared signal manipulation, the distinct relationships to time/memory/causality that electronics afford, and works that integrate improvisation with pre-composed structures or generative systems. The language is built upon Soundpainting, with many modifications and additions for this project.

This ensemble builds upon the larger Electro-Acoustic Orchestra project, as a more professional and established group which has now had a fixed membership over a longer time scale. This ensemble emerged from the pandemic, integrating select long-term members coming out of the course-based version of the EAO ensemble, with members of the international community of electro/acoustic improvisers (and notably, collaborators from the international Deep Listening community), via telematic connections. The ensemble meets regularly to work through new materials, gestures-concepts and pieces.

The course-based EAO often acts as a pathway to join the professional ensemble for students and professional performer alike. The professional DVN-EAO ensemble has converged to a much higher degree of refinement and specificity, with Van Nort able to compose more involved sonic structures (both electronics as well as text/graphic scores) that are rehearsed and can be called upon and nonlinearly combined in performance, as well as much more “two-way mind reading” that happens in the moment.

thee DVN-EAO regularly performs online and in-person (typically with mixed in-person/telematic performers), and invites proposals for venues and festival performances.

Upcoming and select recent performances include:

November 2023: Ongaku no tomo hall, Tokyo, Japan

December 2022: online/streaming performance for the Winter Solstice

October 2022: keynote performance for the exhibition/symposium Sensoria: The Arts and Science of Our Senses with audiences in Gdansk, Poland and at the Dispersion Lab, featuring immersive haptic/light piece by Van Nort.

May 2022: Elka Bong (Walter Wright and Al Margolis) and thee Doug Van Nort Electro-Acoustic Orchestra in first in-person concert at the Dispersion Lab since the pandemic.

December 2021: Works for the Winter Soltice – online/streaming concert.

June 2021: nO(t)pera Summer Soltice Selections – online/streaming concert.

December 2020: Quarantine: A Telematic nO(t)pera, large scale piece online/streaming concert with audience participation.

Credits:

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Composition and Direction:
Doug Van Nort

thee Doug Van Nort Electro-Acoustic Orchestra:
Chris Anderson-Lundy (saxophone), Tom Bickley (EWI+electronics), Viv Corringham (voice+electronics ), Björn Eriksson (feedback boxes), Rory Hoy (bass+electronics), Kathy Kennedy (voice+electronics), Omar Shabbar (guitar+electronics), Danny Sheahan (violin+electronics), Doug Van Nort (soundpainting/composing/electronics).