Instrumentation: soprano sax and max/msp

Program Notes

This piece was commissioned by saxophonist/educator Shirley Diamond who premiered it at the 2009 World Saxophone Congress in Bangkok. The idea of the two-part structure was to explore some gloomy dark electronic sounds and contrast them to the upbeat second section. The harmonica parts and tambourine hits in the second section were performed by the composer.

Premiere: World Saxophone Congress, Thailand. June 2007.


Dark Ethers/Bright Lights (soprano sax, Max/MSP)

Instrumentation: soprano saxophone and computer & electronics.

Program Notes

Praescio I was composed in 1987 for the June in Buffalo Festival. It has undergone many transformations since then - from a rather cumbersome piece for live MIDI, pitch tracker, foot pedals, etc. to a piece for amplified/processed saxophone and fixed media. There is no score as such - only a pitch-time guide for improvisation. It has been performed many many times by several performers and by Shirley Diamond at the Slovenia World Saxophone Congress in 2006. The CD, score and softare are available from the composer. 

Praescio I (Max/MSP)

Everywhere Morning
flute, soprano, piano
Text: Tessa McWatt

Everywhere Morning 5. Two things belong to everyone

Text: Margaret Atwood
Soprano: Pamela Schiffer
Tracks created at CCRMA (Stanford) in 1981

Speeches For Dr. Frankestein - I. I The Performer

Text: Margaret Atwood
Soprano: Pamela Schiffer

Speeches For Dr. Frankestein - II. Now I Shall Ornament You

Speeches For Dr. Frankestein - III. Refelection

Speeches For Dr. Frankestein - IV. The Creature

Expanded Dx7 System
Keyboard: Sergio Barosso

The Transfixing Promise Of Melting April Ice (1988)

Praescio II (Max/MSP)

Praescio III (Max/MSP)

Praescio VII (Max/MSP)

Praescio VI (Max/MSP)

Bruce Pennycook was born in Toronto, Canada in 1949. He studied composition at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto with Gustav Ciamaga, Lothar Klein and John Weinzweig graduating with a Master of Music in Theory and Composition in 1974. He was awarded the CAPAC Young Composer Prize in 1973. While still a student, Pennycook was an active performer, composer and arranger in Toronto recording studios and played regularly in the jazz clubs in the city. In 1976 he received a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship for graduate work at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, Stanford University where he studied with Leland Smith and John Chowning. While at Stanford he was the Director of the Stanford Jazz Ensemble and Assistant Conductor for the Stanford Wind Ensemble. He also performed regularly in ALEA, the Stanford University new music ensemble.

In 1978 Pennycook became Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario with a cross-appointment in the Department of Computing and Information Science. In 1987 he accepted the position of Associate Professor of Music at McGill University in Montreal where he developed the Music, Media and Technology degree programmes. He received numerous grants during this period for innovative research in new media including The Music Library of The Future project which was one of the first to utilize the WWW for audio and MIDI data. He was the recipient of numerous commissions for his interactive compositions from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and from Quebec organizations and these works have been performed internationally. In 1997 Pennycook was appointed the first Vice-Principal of Information Systems and Technology for McGill.

Pennycook relocated to Austin, Texas in 2002 and is now Professor of Music at The Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin where he also chairs the Digital Arts and Media Bridging Disciplines Program. At UT Austin he has developed new courses in digital media and developed a studio and graduate program in film and media composition. In 2014 he was appointed Director of Digital Arts for the College and Fine Arts and Director of the Center for Arts and Entertainment Technologies.

Bruce Pennycook

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