Last fall, the Spektral Quartet commissioned more than 40 contemporary composers to create mini new music masterpieces to serve as ringtones and alerts on mobile devices. More than 40 composers signed on, including Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly, Shulamit Ran, Bernard Rands and David Lang.
The quartet will present them all at its "Mobile Miniatures" release party in Chicago at Constellation, on Saturday, March 29 at 8:30 p.m. The program will be repeated on April 3 at the University of Chicago's Fulton Recital Hall.
The "Mobile Miniatures" live event also marks the release of these ringtones to the general public on SpektralQuartet.com, and ticket holders will receive five free downloads of their choice.
The Spektral Quartet describes this as their "most fiercely original project to date." The quartet will present live performances of these diminutive masterpieces in short sets throughout the evening.
But this event is not just a concert. It's also an interactive gallery installation, with iPad listening stations where you can hear any of the 60-plus ringtones. There will also be tableaux of vintage phones offering curated audio from artists including playwright Idris Goodwin, Museum of Contemporary Art curator Naomi Beckwith, poet Virginia Konchan and The Ringtone Dialectic author Sumanth Gopinath.
There will also be live acts of creation by two composers who represent Chicago's vital new music community. Marcos Balter and Chris Fisher-Lochhead will invite audience input as they compose ringtones in real time, with their efforts projected on the walls of Constellation.
