Multiphonics Hunting
Multiphonics Hunting
Listen: "Lampshades", from Contrapictions for flute, violin, cello
Melomanie performs Sandstone Peak (2016)
Bonnie McAlvin, Flutist and Composer
let's be on the edge of possible
Upcoming Events:
National Flute Association Convention in San Antonio, TX
Bonnie will be performing Ledges Trail: the woman in the stone and A Song for Dusk Unfolding at the National Flute Association's upcoming convention. Catch her on Friday, 8/2 at 12:30, or schedule a lesson at the convention. Group lessons are also available at the convention.
Babel Flute Days Global Convention
Learn to make your multiphonics sing at Babel Flute Days Global Convention. Workshops, concerts and flute events will be hosted by flutists across the globe at this tremendous global event. To learn more and register, see https://thebabelflute.com/international-babel-flute-days/. Here's the description: for Bonnie's multiphonics workshop:
A world premiere at the Crane Woodwind Summit, SUNY Potsdam, NY
A new work, "Ledges Trail" will be premiered by Bonnie McAlvin at the Crane Woodwind Summit at State University of NY, Potsdam, October 21-22. You can also join a workshop if you are in the area, to learn about multiphonics. More info to come!
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Bar Harbor, Maine
A new piece is in the works for oboe, violin, viola and cello. Bonnie had the opportunity to stay as a guest at the festival house of the Bar Harbor Music Festival this summer (thank you!) while she explored all of the lovely, courageous and brutal truths that Acadia National Park, in Maine, had to offer.
The piece is yet to be titled, and has six movements which directly segue.
1. sunrise over sparkling pink: the starkly white edges
2. old pines whispering across the fog
3. sadness, the inevitability of the tides: sinking to slumber
4. clinging to iron: thundering eddies, sculpting
5. the milky way
Have you ever heard of multiphonics? You can learn how to make some of these strange but beautiful sounds at this interactive workshop. Often, multiphonics sound a bit puffy and imprecise on the flute, but you can learn how to make vivid harmonies! In this workshop, we will uncover some of the techniques behind multiphonics by studying “A song for the unfolding of dusk”, a solo flute piece that was composed by the teacher of the workshop. We will try the sounds together, and individuals will have the opportunity to get individual feedback on what they can do to make their multiphonic sing..
Four new solo flute works!!
Ledges Trail: the woman in the stone
"Ledges Trail: the woman in the stone" brings us to the edge of choosing. We can see the darkness, but not inside the darkness; we can conjure the roughness, the closeness, the coldness of the walls which will press into our skin if we enter. We spend some time contemplating: this is not a room I'm usually brave enough to enter. Moments of breeze brush our skin, bringing awareness of rich green tapestries that grow on the outside of the rocks. Maybe follow the breeze instead? After all, the trail is soft and decided under our feet, there are miles of soft mossy covers. But the woman inside the stone fixes on us. Will we join her? She is not a pale fellow--her bruises are lambent despite the dark, and they are solidified. The cave under her face still stands, here in the same place. A moment of looking passes, and though there is no moon, (it is daylight!)--do I see my own form? 'And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you' --Nietzsche
Song for the Unfolding of dusk
May the sun rest its arms of last light round your shoulders, as you enter this darkening.
Healing Story
Streams of melting ice and snow were beginning to form—underneath the snow! The water could be heard burbling down the mountain, deep beneath the surface of the snow. The ice caverns that formed these conduits also acted as resonance chambers for the journeying groundwater.
Crossing Yam Suph
May the birds and the
wind be with you on
this strange and
difficult journey.
Welcome!
É um prazer conhecê-lo.
Nous allons explorer...
die Klänge der Harmonie
con solo un flauto
Bo3MOXHO!
det er mulig! C'est possible!
--and also, beautiful.
Welcome!
I am happy to meet you.
Let us explore the sounds of harmony,
with only a flute.
It's possible!
--and also, beautiful.
an early sketch
