Composing Visions

Carmen Menza ('99) wants you to see her music.

That is the goal of the composer and visual artist's Negotiating Dialogues, a five movement modern chamber work inspired by technological advances in communication like AI and machine learning. The work includes three other artists and will be presented by the members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Sept. 18.

A central element of this work will be improvisation and reconstruction of the original composition through real time recordings of players that are manipulated and played back in subsequent movements. Generative animation responds to music through software creating a dialogue between music and visuals.

Menza with (from left to right) Eric Farrar, Mark Menza and Joel Olivas.

"It is theme and variations in a new light," Menza says.

The artists include her husband, composer Mark Menza, who studied for his master's in composition at UNT in the 1980s, visual effects artist/projectionist Joel Olivas ('16) and Eric Farrar, associate dean of undergraduate studies at University of Texas at Dallas on vibes. Menza has had her work shown at Dallas Aurora Light-Video-Sound Biennial and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

"I enjoy creating immersive works that elevate the musical component to be equal to that of the visual and where music is interactive with imagery," she says.