Performances
About
Swift is a performance for the MAZE ensemble and the Utopa Organ composed by Anne La Berge. It premiered in the Orgelpark in Amsterdam on 23rd October 2021. In Swift, the organpipes are closely amplified while an Algorithmic composition from the computer plays the organ via a network connection. The organ is set to use very little wind which results in soft percussive sounds. The audience is surrounded by sound in a quadrophonic setup as if they are sitting inside the organ. The visuals are generated via in intricate pixelfeedback system that is seeded with the sound from contactmicrophones connected to the organ pipes. The visuals were projected on the floor and used by the MAZE ensemble as a graphical notation score during the performance.
One of the inspirations for this piece is the Common Swift, a bird that in its lifetime flies about two million kilometers and can shut off one half of their brain to go into unihemispheric sleep while flying. Except when nesting, they spend their lives in the air, living on the insects caught in flight. They drink, feed, and mate and sleep on the wing. They are the swiftest of all birds in level flight and are able to fly 170 km per hour or more. Swifts mate for life and the females and males look alike.
