Pamela Z

Program Notes

Pamela Z
Works for solo voice, electronic processing, samples, and wireless gesture controllers (1986–2024)

Meredith Monk
Scared Song, live version (1986), arr. Pamela Z

Quatre Couches is a sonic trifle, tiramisu, or mille-feuille—juxtaposing four contrasting layers and toying with them—mixing them and moving them around on the plate until they all melt away. Flare Stains is a sonic poem on the residue left by emergency flares. Typewriter uses voice, processing, and typewriter samples (triggered with a gesture controller). Declaratives combines live and sampled text fragments, which are further fragmented and layered through delay and granulation processes. The text samples were originally created for a six-channel sound installation in an exhibition called The Art of Artist Statement. In Badagada, one of my early digital delay pieces, the syllables ba-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga-da-ga are layered in multiple delay lines to form a harmonic, rhythmic accompaniment to a melody sung in English. Syrinx is named for the avian vocal organ. In this little extract from my longer 2004 sound work, a birdsong is pitch-shifted and consequently stretched until its individual notes are slow enough and low enough to be accurately produced by a human voice. Flock, which incorporates the sampled voice of dancer Jesse Zaritt, is a structured improvisational meditation on the curious naming of groups of birds. Le Soldat Anonyme was originally composed for the closing title sequence of Lover Other, a 2006 Barbara Hammer film that I scored. Barbara ultimately decided to use only ambient room sound and the voice of an art auctioneer over those end-credits, so the song wasn’t included in my film score. I recently rediscovered it and resurrected it in the form of this live voice and electronics arrangement. Pool is a short episode from Memory Trace, a full evening solo performance work exploring various aspects of memory. Le Corps is woven from layered samples of French choreographer Christine Bonansea’s speaking voice, which are played using a gesture-controlled MIDI instrument. Unknown Person is an excerpt from Baggage Allowance, an intermedia work that scans and inventories the belongings (and memories) we all cart around. Other Rooms is constructed from samples of the speaking voice of Paul David Young taken from an interview I recorded as part of the process of making Memory Trace. Scared Song is a work by Meredith Monk from her 1987 album Do You Be. Tonight’s performance is my live version of the studio arrangement I made for my track on her 2012 tribute CD, Monk Mix.