While composing this piece, I began to think of the analogy of alchemy and its applicability to the compositional process of acousmatic music. I wanted to create something seemingly precious and elaborate that showed no similarity to the ordinary source sounds of kitchen utensils and appliances. A key feature of this piece is its use of a compositional tool developed from Denis Smalley’s spectromorphological language, with the aim of creating structural processes and phrases within the work. Specifically in this piece there is a focus on structures created from a variety of onset, continuant, and termination vocabulary combinations. Experimentation with this vocabulary informed the creation of small units that developed into phrases, and eventually into larger scale structures growing outwards, connecting to each other.

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Kitchen Alchemy was realized in 2007 at the Electroacoustic Music Studios of The University of Manchester (UK) and premiered on March 11, 2007 during the MANTIS “South-North” Festival at The University of Manchester. Kitchen Alchemy was awarded the Grand Prize at the Digital Art Awards (Fujisawa, Japan, 2007) and received an Honorable Mention at the Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’07, Brazil).

Premiere

• March 11, 2007, MANTIS Festival — South-North: Concert, Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama — The University of Manchester, Manchester (England, UK)

Awards

• Grand Prize, Digital Music, Digital Art Awards 2007, Fujisawa (Japan)
• Honorable Mention, International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo 2007, São Paulo (Brazil)