Michael J. Schumacher’s Glacier, a sound installation in 4 Parts and Living Room Pieces (excerpts) :: February 2, 9, 16, 23; 2–8 pm :: Diapason gallery for sound and intermedia, 882 Third Avenue (between 32nd and 33rd Street), 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY.

Glacier was composed during a stay near Glacier Lake in Nederland, Colorado this past summer. It consists of 4 sections, each with a distinctive sonic character, mood, feeling. Each section is made up of 13 modules, (a module being defined as a specific sound as well as the process used by the computer to execute the sound). The parts aren’t executed sequentially, rather, the computer allows a certain number of modules from each section to turn on in various combinations. The more modules from a section that are on at a given moment, the more that section’s character imbues the whole. Over time, the sense of the individual sections emerge, though they may rarely or never be heard entirely alone.

Living Room Pieces provides a framework for engaging sound. It is not a piece of music in the familiar sense, though pieces of music are a part of it… Sounds in Living Room Pieces are autonomous modules that enjoy a high degree of independence from each other. The organizing principle is the alternation between sound and silence in each module, which follows its own path through time, existing in the space as an entity with a strong individual identity. Sounds intermingle in continuously shifting ways, providing new contexts for each other, masking and reinforcing each other. Living Room Pieces is permanently installed in an apartment in the Chelsea Hotel, where the resident lives with the piece 24 hours/day. It was recently presented by Singuhr Gallery in Berlin in an apartment in Prenzlauer Berg, open to the public.

Diapason gallery for sound and intermedia was founded by composer Michael J. Schumacher in 2001 and its program builds on the efforts of Schumacher’s previous sound space, Studio Five Beekman, founded in 1996. Diapason is the sole venue in New York City and one of few internationally dedicated to the presentation of multichannel sound installation where composers and sound artists can realize their work for an interested public. By providing an optimum listening environment, two high quality multi-channel sound systems, a regular audience, and a place for experimentation, Diapason seeks to engage composers and the public in dialogue about the place of contemporary music and sound practice in a broader cultural context. Diapason is supported by NYSCA, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Phaedrus Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, The Trust for Mutual Understanding, Kirk Radke, and by generous individuals. Diapason is a 501(c)3 organization.