Audrey HOUDART (France)
Coming from a literary background, Audrey Houdart first worked in theatre production, before resuming her studies in writing and documentary making. Her passion for the possible relationships between sound writing and text eventually led her to study electroacoustic composition in the Conservatoire of Toulouse. Since 2015, her productions have taken various forms: interpretation of her works on acousmonium — speakers orchestra, live performances, sound design for radios, or soundtracks for animated films and circus.
La Naissance des ombres (The birth of shadows) reflects my continuing love of theatre and radio art since my younger years, and the infinite possibilities it provides for our imagination. Dramaturgy has had an influence on several of my works, but none more so than this one.
The musical material is mostly derived from toy instruments, field recordings and voice. As the music progresses, this material undergoes a variety of metamorphoses, being used to generate both melodic and further harmonic content.
It is cast in the more-or-less traditional three movement mold, with rather static slow sections at the beginning and end providing a frame for the piece.
I have, in my imagination, divided the journey into three acts :
Act 1 – opening the curtain
Act 2 – watching a mobile above my head
Act 3 – meeting Antonin Artaud from the other side
This is a work meant to be striking, but also engaging and fun — sometimes I feel that a little more “fun” at contemporary music concerts would be all to the good.