Cal Poly Soundings: Music in Color

Cal Poly Soundings and ensemble-in-residence Longleash will present a vivid world of new music and movement in two performances of  “Music in Color”!

Soundings is an interdisciplinary program that brings together original compositions by Cal Poly music technology and composition students with dynamic choreography by dance students. Guided by faculty directors Julie Herndon and Diana Stanton, performances will showcase the creative student voices as they explore new approaches to sound, color and movement.

The show is titled “Music in Color” for its connections between sound and visual experience. “From luminous textures to spectral hues, the works delve into the emotional and perceptual intersections of color and music,” said Herndon. “Composers and choreographers interpret ‘color’ not just as a visual element, but as a metaphor for timbre, tone and emotion — inviting the audience to hear in images and see in sound, which results in a multi-sensory experience where music shimmers and dance pulses with resonance.”

The acclaimed Longleash will collaborate with the students. Based in Brooklyn, New York, the trio comprised of Pala Garcia, violin; John Popham, cello; and Mika Sasaki, piano; is an ensemble with a traditional instrumentation and a progressive identity. The “expert young trio” (Strad Magazine) takes its name from Operation Long Leash, a Cold War-era CIA operation that promoted American avant-garde artists in Europe. “Fearlessly accomplished” (Arts Desk UK), Longleash has quickly earned a reputation in the U.S. and abroad for innovative programming, artistic excellence and new music advocacy.

Music technology and composition students include: agricultural and environmental plant sciences major Saiyen Wells; aerospace engineering major David Harris; art and design major Aidan Harper; civil and environmental engineering major Matthew Robinson; computer science majors Nathan Kang, Jacob Kelleran and Justin Yuen; electrical engineering majors JP Haratani, Antonio Bowen and Zak Thompson; general engineering major Tommy Sperling; graphic communication major Ryan Nolan; history major Lucas Mauck; liberal arts and engineering studies majors Cameron Amador and Carter O’Neill; materials engineering major Ryan Curtis; music majors Chris Enriquez, Gillian Kingery, Frank Lang, Jared Lazo, Noah Lopez, Jacob Megaw, Edwin Muñoz, Victoria Reyes, Tyler Russell and Francis Truong; national student exchange student Alison Apostle; psychology major Zoe Dovydaitis; and recreation,pParks and tourism administration major Matthew Hendricks.

Featured dance students who will perform original choreography include: anthropology and geography major Madeline Sickert; architectural engineering major Cassadie Golding; architecture major Arianna Moussavi; art and design major Aviv Kesar; animal science major Lucy Fossa; bioresource and agricultural engineering major Alec Bruggeman; business administration majors Melissa Nemec and Chloe Wu; child development majors Emily Olster and Sara Sjoblom; communication studies major Natalia Quintana-Reyna; environmental management and protection majors Melania Kuzo, Zoe Mears and Araceli Ramos; ethnic studies major Camryn Vanderzwaag; landscape architecture major Gracie Mitchell; music major Alex Pisoni; nutrition major Lauren Van Neck; and sociology major Gabby Khalfin.

Stanton directs the Theatre and Dance Department’s dance program, and directs and choreographs for the Orchesis Dance Company. She has created original choreography for the Music Department’s Cal Poly Symphony, Cal Poly Choirs and RSVP productions. Her dances for the camera, “Breaking Bread” and “State of Grace,” were selected for screening at several film festivals in the U.S., including the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival. Stanton was one of the three Cal Poly faculty to receive the Distinguished Scholarship Award for the 2020-21 academic year. She co-founded and is co-artistic director of the San Luis Obispo-based Variable Velocity Performance Group. She has also created original choreography for the group for over 12 years.

Herndon leads the Music Department’s music technology and composition focus. She is a composer, performer and sound artist whose work frequently explores the body’s relationship to sound. Her compositions and installations have been presented at MATA Festival and National Sawdust, both in New York, Artistry Space in Singapore, Sonorities Festival Belfast in Ireland, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca in Mexico, Croatia’s Music Biennale Zagreb and by Forest Collective in Australia. Recent collaborations include a chamber opera with the Decoder Ensemble, live video scores with the JACK Quartet, and electronic glove instruments with the New York duo andPlay. Herndon directs Cal Poly’s music technology program and also teaches composition.