AUGMENTED CELLOS
The Cello Duo Adams-Baroni was born in Halifax, Canada in April 2017. The project joins two musicians long engaged with their instrument in the search for unconventional sounds and expressive solutions in close contact with new technologies and experimental contemporary developments. The micro-sound resources offered by means of amplification and the structural expansion of the interactive softwares are the themes of a common artistic thrust, which combines a dual expertise in the field of performance and electroacoustic programming.
Improvisation, indeterminate scores and immersion in interactive sound environments intermingle with classical cello practices. The duo took part in musical events and festivals in Canada, UK, Italy and the Czech Republic in constant collaboration with composers active in the creation of music scores and systems in which performance, musical writing and interaction come together as a single integrated dimension.
Norman Adams is Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN Music.
Norman has been a soloist with SNS, The Owen Sound Symphony and Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal. He has been
guest Principal Cellist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and has performed chamber, new and improvised music
throughout Canada, the US, France, and the UK. His performances have also been heard across the Canada and
Australia on radio. As an educator, Norman has been a faculty member at Acadia University, at Scotia Festival of
Music, String Fest at Memorial University and the Acadia Summer Strings Festival. Norman’s passion is new,
improvised and electronic music. He has performed creative music across North America and Europe, collaborating
with many leading artists including Joëlle Léandre, Gerry Hemingway, Eddie Prévost, Pauline Oliveros, Sam Shalabi,
Jerry Granelli, Marilyn Crispell and Evan Parker. Since 2000, Norman has been the Artistic Director of
suddenlyLISTEN Music, an organization that both presents an annual series of improvised music events, featuring a
broad range of local, Canadian and international artists. In 2010 Norman was awarded an Established Artist Award by
the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council, for his varied work.
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Nicola Baroni gained conservatory diplomas in Cello Performance and in Electronic Music, as well as a degree in Musical Aesthetics at the University of Bologna. A cello student of Franco Rossi and Siegfried Palm, he later followed courses on musical softwares at IRCAM in Paris and fulfilled a PhD in Composition at the University of Edinburgh with a research on Hyperinstruments. Nicola Baroni teaches cello in Bologna at the “G.B. Martini” Conservatory, he is involved in solo and chamber music repertoires, and has been a member of several Italian contemporary music ensembles. As a soloist he collaborated with the composers Bussotti, Donatoni, Castaldi and Malec, among others. He has published the anthological Solo Cello CD “Violoncello Italiano.XXI Secolo” with Bottega Discantica label. As a composer he principally develops generative interactive music environments based on performance exchanges between classical musicians and electroacoustic music systems. For many years he has been active in the concert scene in Italian theatres and festivals in Europe, America and Asia. He has held conferences and workshops in various universities worldwide.
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