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Classical instrumental technique deemphasizes the body behind the sound: one is meant to hear the melody, not the fingernails on the keys. Albatross does the opposite, using intensified instrumental actions to destabilize sounds and bring focus to the players’ labor. Samples drawn from sessions recorded live with dancers capture sounds of skin smearing across skin and dense polyrhythms of breath against feet. In Albatross, gestures both heard and seen exaggerate the ensemble's kinetic presence and emphasize the live, local act of creation. 

Albatross was commissioned by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players for the 2014 Sweet Thunder Festival in San Francisco.