Devotion to new music set off Alarm Will Sound

Alarm Will Sound is technically a sinfonietta, a small orchestra with just one
instrument from the standard symphonic lineup.
"What you get are the colors of an orchestra with the rhythmic incisiveness of a
chamber group," said Gavin Chuck, the ensemble’s managing director.
The members consider themselves a "band."
"We grew up artistically together like many bands that started playing together
for fun," Gavin said. "In that sense we like to think of ourselves as
a band. …. We’re adventurous together."
The ensemble even has a suitably off-beat band name, Alarm Will Sound, inspired by a
cautionary sign Chuck spied in a gym.
The repertoire of this classical garage band features a mishmash of contemporary
sound, including works by composer and philosopher John Cage, arrangements of
Beatles tracks, a piece by Ghanian musician Bernard Woma, Frank Zappa works,
even arrangements for acoustic instruments of music from the world of
electronica.
Those pieces by Aphex Twin will feature prominently when Alarm Will Sound performs a
Festival Series concert March 28 at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. The performance is
the culmination of a residency on campus which begins Monday. The residency will
include an open rehearsal, readings of works by student composers and a
question-and-answer session.
Alarm Will Sound has its roots at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where
the founding members, most of whom are still active with the group, were
studying.
Chuck and other composers were frustrated by the limited opportunities to have their
pieces performed by large ensembles. At the same time fellow student Alan
Pierson, who now conducts the band, was frustrated that none of the ensembles
that played new music, played those works from the minimalist schools.
From that grew a concert series, and an ensemble to perform on the series.
As the members of that ensemble approached graduation, Chuck recalls in "Our
Story" on the band’s web site, they decided they wanted to keep the band
alive.
Over the years, they’ve manage to do that despite the logistical problems of having a
20-member venture with members stretched to all corners of the country.
Chuck, who teaches at Northwestern University in Chicago, talked last week by
telephone from outside the rehearsal hall in New York City where Alarm Will
Sound is preparing for an intensive stretch of Midwest shows including the BGSU
stop.
"It’s a tough logistical operation," Chuck said, "But it’s worth it.
… We have a commitment to each other … even as people have spread out across
the country we do everything we can to facilitate coming together."
Because they rehearse in New York City, he said, people peg the ensemble as a
"New York City group."
"We’re like an in-the-cloud kind of group," he said. "Everything is
done over the internet and the band flying around."
The BGSU concert program was designed to show the ensemble’s range, Chuck said.
They will play the variations of "Flow My Tears" by Renaissance composer
John Dowland written by the band’s pianist John Orfe as well as "Son of
Chamber Symphony" composed for Alarm Will Sound by John Adams.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth Alarm Will Sound will
play selections from John Cage’s "Song Books."
"These pieces are theatrical pieces," he said. "Cage came around to
believe that music and theater should be intermingled."
So the musicians will move around the stage, speaking and acting.
The ensemble has been most known for performing the music of electronica composer
Richard David James, working as Aphex Twin.
Taking music written to be performed electronically on acoustic instruments spawned a
debate within the ensemble. Several members loved it.
"It was really engaging music," said Chuck, who admitted he needed to be
sold on the idea. "The music itself is interesting and pushes the edge just
like any contemporary composer. He just works in a different medium."
They decided that performing it for a live audience "literally brings the music
to life."
Then they had to debate whether their renditions would be faithful transcriptions of
the pieces or new pieces "inspired by" the originals. They opted for
the faithful renditions.
Such discussions are not unusual. Whenever the members get together after a lay off
they devote three hours to discussion.
"Part of the adventurous of the group is that people are doing so many different
things," Chuck said. Those discussions revolve around what all the members
have been doing, playing jazz or having discussions with a scholar. "All
these things feed our creative process."
It’s part of making the best of members living in far-flung locations. After being
apart, he said, "people are itching to get together. It’s so much fun
working together."