Reflect Without Blurring (2016), for 8-channel speaker array
Program notes: A soundmass deconstructs into moments of tension and release. Sounds grinding together become stuck on one side of the room while triggering sound events on the other. Dry sounds begin to fade away leaving elongated reflections.
Bio: Jonah Elrod is a composer who researches cycles and signals from the Earth and incorporates them into his music. His works are inspired by and engage with issues surrounding our environment and human perception of the natural world. His music has been performed at many new music festivals including the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, the John Donald Robb Composers Symposium, the New Music on the Bayou Festival, the Hot Air Music Festival, the TUTTI Festival, the New Music Gathering, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, CAMPGround23, the Ball State University New Music Festival, and the New Gallery Series in Cambridge, MA. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of music at Valparaiso University, and is the chair of the Iowa Composers Forum. He earned his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Iowa where he also served as an associate director of the electronic music studios.
Ancient Voices, Ancient Skies (2019), stereo fixed media
Program notes: This piece was created from recordings gathered on a moonless night in the summer of 2019 in Decorah, Iowa. The stars shone brightly while frogs and toads called endlessly into the night. This composition represents the millennia that frogs and toads have been calling underneath the same night skies, and how their loss of habitat due to relatively recent human activities could cause them irreparable harm. The piece begins with starlight calling down to the Earth, signaling the beginning of the mating season. The frogs and toads call out, low in pitch, representing the deep time that they have existed in the prairie while singing their songs. A rough, staticky sound appears about midway through, representing human activities. As the static travels through the stereo field, it erases the calls. The piece is hopeful at the end, showing a potential for the frog and toad calls to return, if human beings change their actions and create an environment where we can all exist together.
Bio: Jonah Elrod is a composer who researches cycles and signals from the Earth and incorporates them into his music. His works are inspired by and engage with issues surrounding our environment and human perception of the natural world. His music has been performed at many new music festivals including the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, the John Donald Robb Composers Symposium, the New Music on the Bayou Festival, the Hot Air Music Festival, the TUTTI Festival, the New Music Gathering, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, CAMPGround23, the Ball State University New Music Festival, and the New Gallery Series in Cambridge, MA. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of music at Valparaiso University, and is the chair of the Iowa Composers Forum. He earned his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Iowa where he also served as an associate director of the electronic music studios.