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Hirondelle
Composed for choreographer Ellenore Scott’s eponymous dance piece. Premiered 30 October 2015 at Whitman Theater, Brooklyn College. -
At the Crossing of Five Paths
At the Crossing of Five Paths consists of five connected short pieces for flute which have been fragmented and rearranged, connected by processed flute sounds. The rearrangement of these elements produces a non-linear temporal experience. All of the elements of a progression remain, but their reordering forces the listener to reconstruct the original linear progression of the pieces after the sound has stopped.
At the Crossing of Five Paths represents a journey from complexity to simplicity. As the original pieces (in their original order) move from low to high, dissonant to consonant, and rapid to slow, the listener is left with a high, mysterious melody that recedes into the distance. The confusion caused by the fragmentation of these different pieces falls away as a decision is made and a path is chosen.
This piece was finished in 2008 and written for Wayla Chambo.
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Mystification
Mystification is an exploration of the juxtaposition between simplicity/complexity, consonance/dissonance, and clarity/distortion. This piece consists of two contradictory trajectories. The acoustic instruments move from a highly complex and dissonant texture to a relatively simple and consonant one. At the same time, the computer processing begins by simply amplifying the instruments. Over the course of the piece the computer begins to alter the sounds of the instruments, processing them with increasing complexity. The result is a kind of mirror form with different versions of simplicity/complexity, consonance/dissonance, and clarity/distortion at either end. -
Anticenter Stream: Composition, Old Stars
Anticenter Stream, composition: Old Stars was written in collaboration with astronomer Jeff Carlin, who's research focuses on the streams of stars left behind by these dwarf galaxies when they venture too close to our much more massive Milky Way galaxy. One of these streams, known as the Anticenter Stream, was thought to be part of a much larger ring of stars, but Jeff has shown that it is likely a distinct entity. This discovery adds to our understanding of how large galaxies like the Milky Way are built up over time. Kemper’s composition, Anticenter Stream, composition: Old Stars is a meditation on Carlin’s research as well as astronomy’s role in explaining the construction of the universe. -
Integrated Elements No. 2 "Not a Haiku"
The Integrated Elements series features solo instruments and pre-recorded sound. The aim of this series is to use the sounds created by instruments, electronically produced sounds, and the sounds made by the human voice or mouth to create an integrated sound world.
Integrated Elements No. 2 “Not a Haiku” was written after many conversations with Scott Shinbara about the possibility of the composition. The multiple percussion set up consists of the following which were chosen based on Scott’s personal collection of instruments; 4 double-headed toms (8” 10” 12” 14”), pedal bass drum, 2 mini timbales (6” and 8”), 2 woodblocks, log drum, and a wooden-headed tom. The pre-recorded sounds are organized into three categories: metal sounds (opera gongs, nipple gongs, tam-tams, cymbals, metal pipes), electronically produced sounds (static, pitches, clicks), and sounds created from using my own voice (yells, humming, pitches).
The piece is constructed in three large parts and breaks down further into a 5-part arch form. I took the ratio 5:7:5 to devise the length of these three large sections. Also, this ratio determines the metric scheme using bars of 5/8, 7/8, and 5/8, which increase exponentially. This scheme is used for the first large section and then run in reverse for the last large section. The ratio also constructs a gong cycle that is run throughout the entire piece, as it would be in traditional gamelan music. And finally, even the instrument selection shows the ratio of 5:7 with wooden instruments to drums respectively.
This piece was not inspired by the Japanese form of poetry, “haiku” which has a 5-7-5 syllable structure. It does not try to incite imagery of nature. Despite the numeric connection to the poetic art form, this piece is not a haiku. This piece was written for and is dedicated to Scott Shinbara.