Expanded Piano

During two production residencies, Stavros Gasparatos—a composer and digital sound artist—preapared for the world premiere of Expanded Piano, an EMPAC commission. Working in residence, the artist concentrated on finalizing the audio composition for the electronically prepared piano, testing and creating the sound design for the 24-channel speaker setup, as well as doing final audio mastering of the performance. For Expanded Piano, an acoustic piano is wired with both regular microphones and contact microphones attached to the body of the piano, its strings, and mechanisms. Each microphone’s signal is manipulated in real time through a computer and then routed to its own loudspeaker, creating a multi-channel space around the audience that puts the listeners “inside” the piano.

Gasparatos is a composer and digital sound artist who lives and works in Athens, Greece. He composes music for dance, theater, cinema, and frequently works on solo music projects. His work has been performed internationally in London, Macao, Naples, Berlin, Toronto, Amsterdam, Paris, and Sofia. Gasparatos is a frequent collaborator of the National Greek Theatre.