…Or Not To Be was completed in 1999. The tape work utilizes spoken word samples from the book by the same name, edited by Marc Etkind. The book is a collection of Suicide Notes. Various notes are included in the piece with editing and effects done to the vocal samples.

Duration: 7:40

This work is no longer available.

Portrait of a Homeless Man was completed in 2002. The video and audio features dialogues and scenes from several nights on the streets in Baltimore. The main subject is “Wayne”, a homeless man in Baltimore.

Duration: 6:23

This work is no longer available.

Lazarus was originally conceived to be a scene within a larger multimedia work based on Richard Grossman’s novel “The Book of Lazarus”. Although the full scale production never made it to fruition, this scene was completed and performed with 2 actors at the Johns Hopkins University film festival in 2003. In early 2005, it was revisited to stand on its own without the actors involved.

The video work was done by Kajsa Brown and Emily Meyer.

Duration: 8:03

This work has limited availability. Please contact sales@janthonyallen.com for more information.

Beat Species Counterpoint for drums and live signal processing was premiered in 2002 with Kurt Snyder on drums. The drum microphones are sent through a custom interface written in Max/MSP. The interface allowed for the second performer, on laptop, to “scratch” the live drums on a Wacom drawing tablet. In addition to the performance at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, it was presented in technical detail at the University of Minnesota “Emerging Digerati” seminar in 2002.

Duration: 7:30

Pictures from Premiere:

Beat Species Counterpoint, Picture 1

Beat Species Counterpoint, picture 2

Beat Species Counterpoint, picture 3

Trance was written in 2006 for Brian Sacawa. For alto saxophone and live electronics (Max/MSP). It uses slow melodic material in the saxophone in order to generate harmonizations in max/msp in realtime.

Duration: 9:00

This work has limited availability. Please contact sales@janthonyallen.com for more information.

Hyperacusis for alto saxophone and tape was commissioned in 2001 for Scott Jones. The piece is in 6 sections, alternating between abrasive/loud textures and ambient/soft gestures. The title refers to a never ending neurological disorder in which every sound (from a passing car to your own feet walking on carpet) is amplified to an intolerable level.
duration: 7:21

Listen to the complete piece:

Sample Pages:









(Click the image for a larger view)

This work qualifies for the Performance Incentive Program.

Printed Score

Firewire is an interactive work for firedancer and live signal processing. The firedancer (poi dancer) wears wireless microphones on the shoulders. These microphones pick up the sound of the spinning fire, amplify it, and send it into the computer for processing. The piece is an improvisation for the dancer, as well as the computer performer. A paper documenting the performance was published in the Organised Sound Journal (Cambridge University Press). The original performer was Cori Lee Stalacker.

Duration: c. 7:00

Max/MSP patch:

Pictures from Performances:

Firewire Premiere Performance

Firewire Premiere Performance

Firewire Premiere Performance

Helen Valnliere for narrator and electronics, was written in 2003. It is the third and final installment of the “Some Antics trilogy” with poet Michael Walter.

The piece is for one narrator and live electronic music. The narrator speaks Walter’s poetry in a sort of half-rhtyhm-half-sprectstimme style. All the accompaniment is generated in realtime using Max/MSP. The text tells the story of a young Helen Valnliere (pronounced Valn-lee-air)

Duration: 7:00

This work has limited availability. Please contact sales@janthonyallen.com for more information.

Requiem for SSAATTBB chorus and electronics was written in 2001. The premiere performance was conducted by Scott Jones, for which it won the 2001 Prix d’Ete Composition Prize.

duration: 9:21

Score Excerpts:

Requiem, Page 1 (Score)

Requiem, Page 5 (Score)

This work is no longer available.

Krupa was co-written by Noah Keesecker. It is an improvisation for data gloves, and modified-trumpet.
The piece uses footage of a drum solo by Gene Krupa to generate beat-like textures. The video of the solo is projected while the data gloves cut and loop the video footage in real time. The modified trumpet adds texture with sustain and chordal accompaniment.

Duration: 9 - 15:00

This work has limited availability. Please contact sales@janthonyallen.com for more information.