The Badlands of southern Alberta (Canada) comprise a vast and carved prairie landscape containing dinosaur fossils, intimate parks, indigenous peoples history and very unique climate. In the summer of 2007 I collected an array of sound materials in the region that allowed me to compose a work that directly references an area of the world that I will always think of as very near to ‘home.’ Long summer days, deep river valleys surrounded by grasslands that seem to stretch out forever, mountains on the horizon and warm evenings, camping by firelight and long shadows. In this respect, there is a sense of nostalgia in Badlands, but only to the point where my investigation of sound creates more otherworldly and densely constructed soundworlds.

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Badlands was realized in 2008 in the studios of the IMEB in Bourges (France) and premiered on May 30, 2008 during the festival Synthèse at the Grand théâtre de la Maison de la culture à Bourges (France). Badlands was commissioned by IMEB.

Premiere

• May 30, 2008, Synthèse 2008: Concert, Grand théâtre — Maison de la culture de Bourges, Bourges (Cher, France)