Conservatory of Music

Performance: In Stillness

The performance of Robert Coburn’s compositions at the International Saxophone Festival in Palmela, Portugal, has been in the works for several months. Originally approached by Portuguese saxophonist Gilberto Bernardes to write a new work for saxophone, computer, and video, Robert Coburn quickly proposed the idea of a recomposition of a previous work, In Stillness, for alto saxophone, computer and video. The idea of nesting existing material from previous compositions in new ones can be seen in many of Dr. Coburn’s other works but the idea of a complete recomposition of one element of an existing work was a new and exciting challenge.

With the decision made to present the new version of In Stillness, Dr. Coburn was then invited to program another new work, Fragile Horizon for viola, computer, and video. Having just been premiered in April, Fragile Horizon and In Stillness form the first pair of a series of works to feature acoustic instrument, computer, and video.