LA Electroacoustic Ensemble

The LA Electroacoustic Ensemble (LAEE) is an electronic chamber music quartet formed in 2018. The group is comprised of composer-performers Marcus Carline, Glen Gray, Zaq Kenefick, and Cristina Lord, who are all graduates from southern California composition programs with varying backgrounds in free improvisation, early music, and jazz. The ensemble was formed to pursue common goals of establishing and improving standards for the composition and performance of electronic chamber music. The ensemble uses laptops, hardware synthesizers, and various electronic tools to explore musical techniques such as signal processing, digital synthesis, and sampling.

The group’s core practice is programming and composing musically engaging pieces in Max/MSP to be performed on laptops. This performance constellation places the ensemble firmly in a historical lineage of chamber music with its close associations of virtuosic performance, ensemble sound, and collective musicianship. Each member’s involvement in classical and new music informs the ensemble’s rehearsal techniques, centered on mastery of digital instruments and compositions. At the same time, constantly progressing options for creating and rehearsing electronic music, e.g. new hardware instruments, a wide variety of controller options, and constantly improving software necessitate experimentation with different approaches to music making. This approach allows the group to embrace the fundamental freedom inherent in the genre of electronic music.

LAEE has performed at various festivals including Oh My Ears in Phoenix, AZ, the annual Bach Marathon at Union Station in Los Angeles, and the Hear Now Music Festival in Los Angeles. A complete list of performances can be found here.

CORE MEMBERS

The LA Electroacoustic Ensemble is a collaborative collective. Our core members are Zachary Kenefick, Cristina Lord, Marcus Carline, and Glen Gray.