Karen Power work performed at ISCM, Beijing

hearing leaves (2013) was commissioned by the ConTempo Quartet. It was written during Karen's Galway Music Residency to celebrate 10 years of music in the city. A key component of this residency lay in delivering workshops to school students, therefore much of the origins of this work are connected with explorations made with students during these composition workshops. The work is a celebration of the excitement that each of us feels, or felt as young children, when we explore sound. The whole work moves through a series of texture and gesture-based sounds, which are not necessarily immediately recognisable as sounds of a string quartet, but which 'grow into’ the quartet while also opening up new sonic avenues. Large chords are plotted throughout the piece and allude to a more angular and sharp sound-world then is at work throughout the rest of the work. These chords bring the quartet together and allow individual instruments the freedom to meander and stray in between.

 

Everyday environments and how we hear everyday sounds lies at the core of Karen Power’s practice with a continued interest in blurring the distinction between what most of us call ‘music’ and all other sound. She has found inspiration in the natural world and how we respond to spaces we occupy. She continually utilises our inherent familiarity with such sounds and spaces as a means of engaging with audiences.