Crossed Wires

Crossed Wires is an immersive composition for amplified viola, percussion (featuring vibraphone and glockenspiel), and electronics, commissioned by the Piedmont Duo.

The piece revolves around sounds associated with telephones, communication, and miscommunication, weaving a narrative that spans both historical and modern devices. It incorporates the auditory essence of antique phones, mid-century landlines, and contemporary cellphones. The soundscape includes clicks and beeps from picking up, setting down, or turning off phones; dial tones; telephones vibrating and ringing; busy signals; out-of-service messages; fax machines; customer service interactions; "hold music"; answering machines; and more.

Crossed Wires also delves into instrumental synthesis, exploring the timbral relationships between the themed sounds and the instrumental palette. Hundreds of string and percussion recordings are integrated with the communication-themed materials, layering textures and transforming the original recordings into instrumentally synthesized interpretations. This fusion creates a dynamic interplay between the organic and electronic, blurring the lines between traditional instrumentation and auditory imagery.

Founded in 2021, the Piedmont Duo comprised of Ayn Balija, Associate Professor of Viola and I-Jen Fang, Professor of Percussion from the Department of Music at the University of Virginia, is a performance and educational based chamber music group dedicated to expanding the musical presence and the sonic possibilities of viola and percussion. They have toured, performed and given masterclasses in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina as well as at the International Viola Congresses in Campinas, Brazil; Paris, France; and the University of Pécs, Hungary. Committed to outreach and collaboration, they have commissioned original works from composers JoVia Armstrong, Leah Reid, and Judith Shatin to be part of a new album that features women composers. I-Jen Fang is a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. She serves as the Principal Timpanist and Percussionist for the Charlottesville Symphony. She has performed as a soloist in Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, and U.S., and as a featured performer at PASIC, PAS Day of Percussion, SEAMUS and various festivals. Ayn Balija is a dynamic violist dedicated to expanding the viola's expressive range through innovative performances and collaborations. She holds the position of Principal Violist with the Charlottesville Symphony and has performed as a guest artist across Canada, Hungary, Brazil, New Zealand, and various locations in the United States, premiering new works and highlighting her commitment to musical diversity in performance and education.