DESCRIPTION:
Utilizing recently discovered ideas, the Rova Saxophone Quartet will create a new, set-length performance piece especially for Summit, The Contours of the Glass Head, to further explore the intersection of improvisation and composition, using improvisational games and strategies. A couple of years ago Rova members launched into a new period of exploration during the design phase of Glass Head (originally presented in the Rova:Arts produced Rovaté 2006 concert). This work was characterized by a collective search for new improvisational strategies, resulting in new ways to engage the individual voices of the quartet members. The improvisations were interrelated through unifying concepts both in terms of material and methods of interaction. Many of the ideas developed during this research were never used for the project, and those that were part of the Glass Head piece are readily recyclable for other applications. We discovered a wealth of ideas that we will bring together to create a new performance work, quite different from the prior composition, and at the same time sharing its conceptual base. The set-long work will showcase the breadth of the quartet's musical range, including extended solos, collective improvisations, development of complex harmonic landscapes, and layered compositional and improvisational strategies.