CEMI - Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia

SAN ANTONIO HOSTS NATIONAL SEAMUS CONFERENCE: Just this past week, University of North Texas was robustly represented at the four-day national SEAMUS conference themed, “Music Collisions, celebrates hybrid and boundary-crossing practices—where music intersects with art, dance, literature, science, and more.”

The UNT Division of Composition Studies celebrates two student achievements. Doctoral composition student, Shahrzad Talebi, was selected as First Prize for the SEAMUS 2026 Student Commissioning Competition Award for her piece “A Detour, Invalid Light by Mistake.” Doctoral composition student, Connor Scroggins, received the premiere of his work, “fleeting facades, ephemerally forever,” commissioned as the 2025 SEAMUS Student Award Commissioning Competition Second Prize.

Thirty-two UNT participants were included—pictured (front row, l-r): Sungji Hong, Nolen Liu, JD Fuller, Panayiotis Kokoras, Elizabeth McNutt, Elainie Lillios, Colin Stokes, Sampson Li, David Stout; (standing, l-r): Kevin Salfen, Shahrzad Talebi, Benjamin Shirey, Victoria Donaldson, Ben Damann, Anne Maker, Connor Scroggins, Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Eli Fieldsteel, Christopher Poovey, Mark Vaughn, Kory Reeder, Michael Thompson, Qi Shen, Joseph Klein. Not pictured: Lisa Bost-Sandberg, Mike Capone, Yoonjae Choi, Mia Detwiler, I-Jen Fang, Linda Jenkins, Kourtney Newton, and J. Andrew Wright Smith.

Check out the full conference at:
https://colfa.utsa.edu/music/seamus-conference/

Three week recap at CEMI:

We had visits from Chinary Ung and Lisa DeSpain. Chinary Ung presented on his multimedia piece incorporating visuals, electronics and live instruments. The flute was performed by our very own Elizabeth McNutt. Lisa DeSpain visited the following week and presented on her new Opera work. This included an informative section on collaboration with a librettist, and the process that goes into that.

Up Next: Our final spectrum concert of the semester, tomorrow Friday April 24th, celebrating our retiring faculty Dr. Jon Nelson!

Over the past two weeks, we’ve had an exciting lineup of Music Now events featuring guest artists and composers.

On March 2, we welcomed Kory Reeder, a UNT alumnus and lecturer in the UNT Composition Department, who presented “What Is Really Going On? Music as an Existential Exercise” and shared insights into his compositional approach.

On March 16, we hosted Drew Schnurr, Associate Professor of Composition and Media Arts at UNT, who offered insights into AI and music through his creative practice.

These events provided valuable perspectives on contemporary composition and emerging directions in the field.

Stay tuned for more upcoming events at CEMI!

Two week recap at CEMI: we had two of our graduating students give lectures for music now. Reagan Maginn & Ben Damann both presented on their masters and doctoral work respectively, providing a fascinating insight into their composition process.
More recently this past week we had a visit from Sarah Ruth Alexander, presented on her recent work in parts of Texas exploring natural & environmental impact of rural landscapes.

Event tonight: our own staff member Noah Salem presents his masters recital in Voertman Hall at 8pm. Hope to see you all there!

TONIGHT! 24 | 24 presented by Composers Forum will take place at 8pm in the MEIT. Our composers had 24 hours to write a piece, and then performers had 24 hours to learn it. The timer ends tonight… Join us for a fun evening of some experimental and time-pressured cooked works!

Poster made by

Join us tonight for our very own, Dr. Joseph Klein’s recital at 8pm in Voertman Hall.

Yesterday he presented on his works from his series: Canetti-menagerie. These are works for solo instruments and ensemble that are based on characters from Elias Canetti’s book ‘Earwitness.’ Discussing artistic inspiration, along with technical aspects of his work.

It will be a special show this evening, featuring UNT Faculty and other performers on the concert.

~~~~~~~~~

Joseph Klein is a composer of instrumental, vocal, electroacoustic, and intermedia works, whose music has been described as “a dizzying euphoria… like a sonic tickling with counterpoint gone awry” (NewMusicBox), exhibiting a “confident polyvalence [that] heightens its very real excitement” (The Wire). His work reflects an ongoing interest in processes inspired by natural phenomena, often drawing upon literary sources and incorporating theatrical elements as part of the overall musical narrative. Klein holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of California, San Diego, and currently serves as Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair of Composition Studies at the University of North Texas.

Dave Hall gave us a fantastic presentation this morning, exploring writing for percussion as both a composer and a performer.

Providing valuable insights on accessibility, writing intuitively and engaging with meaningful topics, this was a wonderful morning of music and learning.

~~~~~

Dave Hall is Associate Professor of Percussion at the University of North Texas College of Music, where he directs the UNT Percussion Ensemble and teaches applied lessons and courses on percussion literature, history, and pedagogy. Before his appointment at UNT, he was Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Under his direction, the University of Nebraska Percussion Ensemble was selected to perform a showcase concert at PASIC in both 2019 and 2016 as winners of the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition (IPEC) and also founded Nebraska Steel, the first university steel band in the state. Under his direction, the Univeristy of North Texas Percussion Ensemble was also selected as an IPEC Winner in 2025.

Well back Composers! This morning Professor Stephanie Rhodes Russell joined Music Now to give us a valuable talk on the power of collaboration between composers and choreographers. Focusing on operatic works, Prof. Rhodes emphasised the importance of building lasting connections, taking advantage of opportunities and the best way to have fruitful collaborative processes with conductors. It was a pleasure to have her visit us this morning!

Audio Art 2025 - ANNEX

December 13 grudnia 2025, godz. 12.00 P.M. (CEC)
Pracownia Audiosfery Wydziału Intermediów ASP im. J.Matejki w Krakowie
Audiosphere Lab, Intermedia Faculty, Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Art in Krakow
ul. Karmelicka Str. 16, Kraków

PSeME / CIME - maraton elektroakustyczny #2 electroacoustic maraton

PSeME
Michał Janocha - Felicytologia I 8:42 Poznań, 8ch 8:42
Piotr Grela-Możejko - Put In Pull Out (Vladimir, get the f**k out), Edmonton , 5ch 3:12
Wacław Nowacki - _ZAMIAST, Rzeszów, video 10:00
Josef Ka & Franciszek Araszkiewicz - Ascension, Wiedeń Kraków, video 9:21
Aleksandra Bilińska - …a akacje wciąż kwitną, cz. 14, 15; Warszawa, stereo 2:52 8:47

CIME+
Georgy Potopalsky - I will not disturb you anymore, UAEM, Ukraine, 8-ch 9:56
Benjamin Shirey - I am the space… CEMI, USA, 8ch 5:11
Jorge Rodrigo Sigal Sefchovich - Interlineal, AARSOM, Mexico, 8ch 10:00 (10:46)
Leo Gaigg - Overload, IKD, Linz, Austria, 8ch 3:48
Thanasis Epitideios - reSonaissance, HELMCA, Greece, 8-ch 9:27
Irving Kinnersley - Estuary 2, BEAN, UK, stereo 10:00 (13:47)
Marcelo Espíndola - Cristal de madera, CECH, Chile, stereo 10:03
Dirk Veulemans - De Zandman (Engl: The Sandman), FeBeME, Belgium, 8-ch 8:54
Ainolnaim Azizol, Hasnizam Abdul Wahid, Fendi Mazalan, Yeoh Pei Ann & Siti Hajar Seperah (collaborative composition by SPECTRA Collective) - San III: Beyond the Horizon
MEMLab, Malaysia, stereo 9:47
Julien Guillamat - Altitudes I (extract of Altitudes) MAS, France, 8ch 10:00 (14:51)
António de Sousa Dias - A Dama e o Unicórnio - Paisagem (2018) Miso Music, Portugal 6-ch 8:27
Bruno Cusumano - Sinestesia #1 Tempo Reale, Italy 8ch ambisonics 8:20
Leonardo Saba - , Italy, 4ch 7:40
Alessandro Abate - L’Eclissi, Italy, stereo 8:44

wstęp wolny / entrance free
www.audio.art.pl

LeavingRoom
multimedia music theatre project

Authors:
Dimitris Andrikopoulos, Ivo Medek, Sára Medková, Vít Zouhar – music, Lukáš Medek – video, Directed by: Rocc

Performers:
Dimitris Andrikopoulos – viola, voice
Sára Medková – piano, voice
Hana Hána – flute, voice
Ivo Medek – inside piano, ready-mades, voice
Vít Zouhar – laptop performance, voice
Lukáš Medek – video

The theme of the multimedia composition LeavingRoom is changing relationships within individual relationships and in a globalized society. It focuses on pushing the delicate line between respect, acceptance, adoration, rejection and hatred. It points to the radicalization of the environment, reflects on the impulses that trigger it, and draws on media images of these changes. In relationships, opinions, attitudes and personal preferences. Fragments of posts, comments, messages, form the basis of the textual and audio material of the work. These fragments of intercepted, recorded and published messages are the starting point for melodic outlines, rhythmic patterns, and density of soundscapes, created from statistical data on the frequency of keywords. The work does not try to evaluate, appeal, adore, highlight or condemn. It does not try to be illustrative or imperative. This leaves it up to the viewer and their perception. LeavingRoom is sound-spatial ambience of life, a symbolic superspace of states, meetings, departures and goodbyes.