Jack Straw Productions and Washington Composers Forum present Composer Spotlight, a series of talks and performances by composers, musicians, and scholars of new and innovative music every second Wednesday of each month. For more information about Composer Spotlight artists and the series, click here.

Composer Spotlight:
SUSIE KOZAWA and ESTHER SUGAI with SERGE GREGORY
When Herons Dream

Wed, October 14, 7:30pm

Filmmaker Serge Gregory will join sound artists Susie Kozawa and Esther Sugai to discuss the collaborative process involved in creating the sound design for the short film When Herons Dream, which premieres at the Northwest Film Forum's Local Sightings festival on October 6th. Kozawa, Sugai, and Gregory collaborated in the Jack Straw studios with Jack Straw engineer Tom Stiles to create the sound design, using both traditional instruments and ready-made acoustical objects to create an unusual aural ambiance for the film's images. The film will be shown before the discussion.

Susie Kozawa, a sound artist, composer and performer, works mostly with soundscapes, sound collages and site specific installations, in which the gathering of sounds is a primary activity. She explores different acoustic spaces using musical instruments she has made out of found objects, kelp, modified toys and human voice. She has received awards from the Seattle Arts Commission, Artist Trust, Washington State Arts Commission, and the Ford Foundation.

Esther Sugai is a composer and flutist. She performs with Aono Jikken Ensemble, an experimental group specializing in live performances to silent films; Eye Music, a graphic and text score group; and the Fisher Ensemble.

Serge Gregory has made short films since 1997. His films have been exhibited at the Seattle International Film Festival, One Reel Film Festival, Northwest Film & Video Festival, Seattle Art Museum, Library of Congress, and a variety of museum, gallery and alternative venues in the North America and Europe.