Deep Listening Band

Pauline Oliveros, accordion, electronics
Stuart Dempster, trombone, didjeridu
Panaiotis (1988-1990), vocals, electronics
David Gamper, keyboards, electronics

The Deep Listening Band was founded in 1988 by Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, and Panaiotis. David Gamper replaced Panaiotis in 1990.

The band is named after Oliveros' term, concept, program and registered servicemark of the Deep Listening Institute, Ltd., ''Deep Listening®'', and specializes in performing and recording in resonant or reverberant spaces such as cathedrals and huge underground cisterns including the two-million gallon Fort Worden Cistern, which has a 45 second reverberation time.

They have collaborated with Ellen Fullman and her Long String Instrument on "Suspended Music" released by Periplum Records; the Joe McPhee Quartet on "Unquenchable Fire" released by Deep Listening. They have also performed, recorded, and released a trope on John Cage's 4'33". "Non Stop Flight" released by Music&Arts is a 70 minute excerpt from the 4 hours and 33' trope.

Carrier Band

Peer Bode, Voice and Vocoder
Andrew Deutsch, Electronics and toys
Pauline Oliveros, Accordion/Expanded Instrument System

Timeless Pulse

Tom Buckner, baritone
George Marsh, percussion
Pauline Oliveros, accordion
David Wessel, electronics
Jennifer Wilsey, percussion

Zanana

Kristin Norderval, voice
Monique Buzzarté, trombone

Zanana is a collaborative duo featuring Kristin Norderval, voice and Monique Buzzarté ,trombone, performing improvised music blending acoustic sounds, electronics and live processing. We compose and perform collaboratively using improvisation as the foundation of our compositional process. Some works are free improvisations, some are structured improvisations, and some are composed with aleatoric elements. Our intent is to create sonic transformations of both our acoustic playing and unusual ambient/industrial/site-specific sounds.

For live processing we each use Macintosh laptop computers running Max/MSP. For most engagements we bring our own equipment, including hemispherical/spherical speakers, mixers, microphones, mic stands, and the like. However, specific technical needs vary depending on the venue and the program being performed.

Our duo takes its name ("zah-NAH-nah") from a variant spelling of "zenana," a Persian term originating from zan or "woman".

EHRES (Extreme High Risk Entertainment System)

John D.S. Adams, modular electronics
Norm Adams, cello/electronics
Ione, spoken word, sonic vocals/electronics
Pauline Oliveros, accordion/Expanded Instrument system (EIS)

EHRES is Pauline Oliveros, John DS Adams, Ione, and Norman Adams: a quartet of performers employing an innovative system of acoustic and electronic interconnections for live performance. EHRES creates multilayered networks of connections allowing all sounds to be shared, processed and distributed to a multi-channel sound system.

The web of connections begins with the interaction of the artist’s immediate music making process. EHRES balances on the unique qualities of listening, intuition, emotion, timbre, and range that their individual methods of music making present. Their web extends further into electronic sound, as the musicians process various signals, as the artists interact with one another’s acoustic and electronic sounds and as the sounds move through the performance space, via the immersive, eight channel speaker array.

Musical structures are created spontaneously within each of the performer's instruments / systems and extends into the interconnections and interactions between the artists and the control of their systems.

EHRES plans to produce a high resolution video/audio recording (on Blueray or DVD-HD) that illuminates the unique relationships of this ensemble in a performance setting. The audio will be recorded in a multi-channel environment in order to capture the spacialization of the sound system and the acoustic it is recorded within. The visuals will be a creative performance unto itself incorporating sophisticated and evocative lighting, multiple camera angles, and a mix of close-up shots and improvised video which in part will highlight the continual interaction between the performers of EHRES and the visual artist.

In addition, material is planned which explains the EHRES system to clarify the music for listeners, as well as interviews with the performers describing the unique perspective each takes in their performance process.

The Horns of Hathor

Pauline Oliveros, accordion/expanded instrument system (EIS)
Ione, spoken word/sonic vocals/electronics

The Space Between

Pauline Oliveros, accordion
Dana Reason, piano
Philip Gelb, shakuhachi

The Space Between trio formed in the winter of 1996 when the Dana Reason/Philip Gelb duet invited Pauline Oliveros to join them for a concert in San Francisco. Utilizing a unique combination of Just intonation accordion with shakuhachi and piano immediately puts the trio in a special sonic space. The trio employs timbre and texture as their main structural units for composition and improvisation. As a result the discrepency in tuning systems of the instruments becomes an advantage rather than a disadvantage. Since the three members live in different cities, performances have been sporadic; highlights include the Opus 415 festival in San Francisco, Spruce Street Forum in San Diego and a two night stint at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies where they were joined by Barre Phillips on bass.

New Circle Five

Monique Buzzarté, trombone
Rosi Hertlein, violin and voice
Susie Ibarra, percussion
Pauline Oliveros, accordion
Kristin Norderval, soprano

Spanning three generations, New Circle Five is an acoustic improvising contemporary music ensemble. Diverse musical backgrounds result in unique twists as the five explore the one-time only sonic environment of collective creative improvisations.

The New Circle Five grew from an invitation Susie extended to Pauline to join her for a duo concert; the duo concept quickly grew to a quintet and the resulting New Circle Five gave its premiere performance at the Tonic in New York City on April 3, 1999.

Guests of New Circle Five have included Barbara Barg, spoken word, Abbie Conant, trombone, IONE, spoken word, Jackie Pickett, bass, and Leaf Miller, percussion.

Circle Trio

Pauline Oliveros, accordion
India Cooke, violin
Karolyn van Putten, vocalist

The Circle Trio formed 1996 in Oakland,CA and includes violinist India Cooke, accordionist Pauline Oliveros and vocalist Karolyn van Putten. India Cooke is a classically trained violinist/composer who has performed many styles of music including jazz and crossover fusion; Pauline Oliveros is a composer/performer who has improvised her way through the avant garde, electronic music, free music and her own Sonic Meditations and Deep Listening Pieces; Karolyn van Putten is a vocalist/improvisor with a deep interest in music as a healing force drawing from traditional, contemporary and original music. Each member of the Circle Trio improvises from her own special experience making a diverse mix of music from extraordinary sound consciousness. The strong sense of community shared by the members of The Circle Trio in their music may guide the audience to a deep listening experience.

Accordion Tribe II: Four Accordions of the Apocalypse

In May 1996, five of the world's most innovative contemporary composer/accordionists convened in Europe for a three-week tour. The concerts were a powerful and thrilling experience -- in several critics' polls of European Jazz Magazines, the project was chosen as "live-performance of the year." As a result of the tour, a CD with the title "Accordion Tribe" was released in January 1998 on Intuition Music/Schott. After the success of the first accordion project with Guy Klucevsek, Maria Kalaniemi, Lars Hollmer, Otto Lechner and Bratko Bibic, there is now an exciting continuation, with renowned composer/accordionists Guy Klucevsek, Pauline Oliveros, Amy Denio and Alan Bern. Each of these players is recognized in classical, jazz, folk or avant-garde music circles as having a unique compositional voice, as well as an unquenchable thirst for adventure. Individually, they are uncompromising and driven by a deep passion for breaking down musical barriers. Collectively, they meet the challenge to integrate these forces into a whole, of which the combined energy is greater than the sum of its parts. The program features solos and combinations, compositions and collaborations from individual and collective group members. Like the first accordion tour, the full presentation will no doubt be a major event in the accordion renaissance, a turning point for the accordion as a contemporary instrument.

As with the original Accordion Tribe venture, the chief instigator of the project is New York composer/accordionist Guy Klucevsek.