eFlash! 2016-01

Greetings From the CEC’s Newest Board Member, Joseph Hyde

Hello! It’s perhaps a little late to wish you a happy new year now, but I hope 2016 is treating you well so far. Eldad kindly introduced me as the newest CEC Board member in the last issue of eFlash!, but please allow me a personal “Hello”. I’m delighted to be able to support this vibrant community in this way and look forward to helping it continue to thrive.

The year has certainly got off to a busy start, with Jef and Yves working furiously on several issues of eContact! in parallel. Stay tuned for a smorgasbord of fantastic material that will be headed your way over the next few weeks.

The recently released issue 17.2 (January 2016) looks at the work of Canadian electronic music pioneer Hugh Le Caine, who built one of the world’s first synthesizers (the Electronic Sackbut), produced many other instruments and devices, and also created many compositions, perhaps the best known being 1955’s Dripsody. Issue 17.4, Analogue and Modular Synthesis: Resurgence and Evolution, with Guest Editor Richard Scott, explores an area close to my heart, since I have immersed myself in this world over the last year or so. It’s exciting territory, and I’m sure this issue will give a great taste of what makes it so. Stay tuned for that, I understand it is in the final stages of production!

Looking a little further ahead, issue 18.1 documents the 16th edition of Jeu de Temps / Times Play (JTTP). I was lucky enough to meet the winners from the previous edition and hear their wonderful work at the fantastic JTTP showcase in the Días de Música Electroacústica festival in Seia, Portugal, and can vouch for the outstanding qualities of the emerging generation of electroacoustic composers in Canada! And issue 18.2 will feature papers from the 2015 edition of the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium (TIES), which had Nicolas Collins as Keynote. Again I can speak from first-hand experience of an excellent event — there’s a wide range of informative and thought-provoking papers to explore.

On that note, please do let your friends, colleagues and students know about the next edition of JTTP, which supports the work of young and emerging electroacoustic composers and sound artists from/living in Canada. The deadline is the 1st of May — it’s well worth getting something in.

This represents an impressive array of activity by my reckoning. JTTP has become an important fixture in the electroacoustic calendar — a great opportunity for young composers and a great way to promote the best of Canadian electroacoustic music worldwide. This was very evident in last year’s JTTP showcase in Portugal, part of a continuing internationalisation of CEC activities that I am keen to foster. TIES has grown into a substantial event, again international-facing whilst keeping its feet on the ground. And the four issues mentioned here are testament to the enormous range of subjects covered by the ever-excellent online journal for electroacoustic practices, eContact!. I’d like to thank Jef and Yves, my fellow board members, and of course you — the CEC membership — for making all of this possible.

Joseph Hyde
CEC Board of Directors
31 January 2016