Prof. Eliot Britton discusses the crossroads of composition and technology

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What does it mean to be a composer in the 21st century?

"What unites Britton’s varied works are an interest in rhythm and a playful sense of scale. He’ll take a soft or subtle sound (a 'micro-sound') and amplify it to cinematic intensity. He did this in 'Heirloom Bison Culture' (2016), transforming recorded bison’s breath into thundering percussion for a piece performed by the Winnipeg Symphony. And in 'OxBlood Diamine' (2018), he built a composition around the tiny sounds he coaxed out of a copper pen."

"For Britton, the creative challenge of making music boils down to equal measures of technology and aesthetics. 'I move back and forth between these two things,' he says. 'And I do it over and over again.'"

Read more about Professor Eliot Britton in the University of Toronto Magazine article, "What Is Music When Almost Everything Can Be Music?".

Photos by Nick Iwanyshyn.