To US.S..S… has been performed in Brussels, Foggia, Gars am Kamp, Hangzhou, Leicester, Lisbon, Malmö, Minneapolis, Morelia, Rome, Santa Barbara, Sheffield, Stanford, Valdivia and Vitoria-Gasteiz…

Over the past ten years, I have been constantly influenced and inspired by the works of my various students and colleagues in the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS) (UK)… to the point that my musical ideas and interests have been profoundly shaped by the people that I have had the pleasure of working with. In early 2022, I left Sheffield’s music department, and this piece was my parting ‘gift’: an homage to my amazing colleagues, students, and friends that have been — and continue to be — such an inspiration. It contains references to around 30 of my students and their unique interests, but starts with a lengthy pastiche of Adrian Moore’s Counterattack.

To US.S..S… is, in a sense, my view on where acousmatic music is going; a blending, fusing, integration of ideas old and new, clichéd and novel, emerging and disappearing… In my postmodern ‘toast’ to the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS), therefore, please raise your glasses ‘To Us…’ or rather, ‘To USSS…’ or rather, ‘To US.S..S…’.

[vii-22]

To US.S..S… was realized in 2021 at the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS) (England, UK) and premiered on November 27, 2021 during the Sound Junction festival in Sheffield (England, UK). Thanks to Adrian Moore for his friendship and support over many years. To US.S..S… was the winner in the Sound Spaces 2022 competition (Malmö, Sweden, 2022), and received an Honorable Mention in the 14th Destellos Electroacoustic Composition Competition (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2022).

Premiere

November 27, 2021, Sound Junction Autumn 2021: Concert 2: Adam Stanović, Firth Hall — Firth Court — The University of Sheffield, Sheffield (England, UK)