M13: Bloom for cello and live electronics

Austin Franklin is an internationally recognized composer and sound artist based in Baton Rouge, LA where he is currently pursuing a PhD in Experimental Music & Digital Media from Louisiana State University. His interests include music involving process, such as algorithmic composition and music incorporating machine learning technologies. His music has been described as having “striking effects of togetherness” and “a sense of an ending” (New York Concert Review). His latest album, Four Idols, has been described as “an elegant, artistic statement that demonstrates the flexible possibilities of electronic music” (The Sybaritic Singer). Austin has several pieces for percussion published through C-Alan Publications and his music has been performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia by ensembles such as Hypercube, The Estrella Consort, and the Four Corners Ensemble. His String Quartet No. 1 “Lanterns” was recently performed at Carnegie Hall.

Austin is the recipient of numerous awards and commissions, including 2nd Place in the American Prize for Composition, the RMN Call for Electroacoustic Works, PARMA Winter Call for Scores, and the ABLAZE Electronic Masters Series Call for Recordings. His music has also been selected for festivals and conferences such as ISMIR, SEAMUS, NEMF, Festival Ecos Urbanos, the New Music on the Bayou Festival, Splice Institute, NYCEMF Festival, WOCMAT, Alba Music Festival, Society of Composers Incorporated, and Electric LaTex. As a technologist, he has presented research at the Web Audio Conference that explores using Web API’s as the basis for designing digital instruments, and at the New Interfaces for Musical Expression Conference that involves simultaneous auditory and vibrotactile stimuli. For more visit austinfranklinmusic.com.

Cellist Eduard Teregulov is a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and scholar. Winner of several international competitions in the United States and Europe, he embraces his career of contemporary cellist in the United States. Currently based in Baton Rouge, LA, Teregulov maintains active performance schedule as a soloist and chamber musician across the country. In April 2022, Eduard Teregulov performed in Carnegie Hall with the nationally known Constantinides New Music Ensemble (Louisiana), where he presented music by Mara Gibson, Austin Franklin, Thomas Wilson, and Mikeila McQueston. Aside from his career as a concert artist, Dr. Teregulov collaborates with living composers from around the world and works tirelessly on expanding the cello repertoire. As a founding member of Homegrown New Music Ensemble in Florida, Eduard commissioned and premiered over 20 original works for his instrument by composers from South Korea, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Vietnam, and the United States. Eduard Teregulov holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Cello Performance from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from University of South Florida, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Cello Performance and Education from Ufa State Academy of Arts.

Bloom is a piece for violoncello and live electronics that explores tension, using the metaphor of a blooming flower as the basis from which the musical material and form are derived. The work begins with a very simple melodic idea using natural harmonics. These harmonics are developed throughout the piece, eventually blurring the line between pitch and noise, meter and aleatory, and acoustic and electronic elements. The electronic element of the piece is realized using live input from the cello only. This relies on specific musical parameters (namely amplitude and frequency) to control how the input is processed. The piece concludes with a quasi-recapitulation of the opening, this time incorporating non-harmonic tones. This is the most mature statement of the original melodic idea in the piece, which signifies completion of the flowering process.