Petri Kuljuntausta: Northern Lights

Performers:

• Petri Kuljuntausta

Northern Lights takes the Aurora Borealis as its source material in a collaboration between art and science.

In 2001 when composer and sound artist Petri Kuljuntausta was searching for new ideas for a forthcoming concert, he discovered that interesting new sound material had recently been recorded under bright Aurora Borealis. During thousands of years many observations have been made, however, there are no earlier measurements or recordings containing similar data. He contacted the person behind the research project, scientist Unto K. Laine, and a listening sesson was promptly arranged at the Acoustic Laboratory of the Helsinki University of Technology. Kutjuntausta was excited about the originality of the sounds and the sonic range of their characteristics, and the idea of a composition based on these sounds from space began to crystallize. The collaboration had begun.

In this concert we hear the original field recordings as well as processed versions of Auroral sounds. A continuous dialogue between the auroral soundscapes and their digitally manipulated alternate forms is created on stage using only real-time digital sound processors, such as a touch-sensitive sound processor.

For the performance, video director Semi van Ingen has created a visual accompaniment, based on video clips of the Aurora filmed by Unto K. Leine. The videoscapes are closely connected aesthetically to Kuljuntaustais real-time manipulation of the soundscapes.

Performer: Petri Kuljuntausta, Visuals: Sami van Ingen (FI), Original field recordings: Unto K. Laine (FI).