All of Creation Has Been Groaning by Susan Frykberg

All of Creation Has Been Groaning

About the Project for SCANZ

This sound art composition was created as part of Susan Frykberg’s residency at SCANZ 2015, in New Plymouth New Zealand. Inspired by the topic of the residency, Water and Peace, it combines waters recorded and sourced from New Zealand, Australia and Canada, and includes chants from the Catholic mass in both Maori and English, and electronic audio. Contributors to the project include Matt Rogalsky; Karen Sunabacka, The Vancouver Soundscape and Freesound for water recordings; Richard Puanaki and the New Zealand Liturgy Website for the recordings of the Catholic Mass. The title comes from a phrase from St Paul in the Book of Romans. It refers to belief that nature herself is redeemed by Christ and is particularly relevant now, given the pollution of our world’s water.

Artist Bio

Susan Frykberg at SCANZ 2015

Susan Frykberg is a sound-artist/composer and poet who tries to balance chi-rho spirituality, creativity and social justice. Her works have been heard in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia and Australasia. In addition to her sound-art works, Susan composes for a variety of combinations of electroacoustics, instruments, and chant. Some of this work can be heard on her CD Astonishing Sense……….. available from www.earsay.com and itunes. One work on it, for electroacoustics and violin, was performed at the Congress for the International Alliance of Women Musicians in Beijing in 2008. Susan has combined Gregorian chant with Ableton Live in the works Salve Regina Electronica – (New Zealand Electroacoustic Symposium at Auckland University 2009) and Ubi Caritas Electronica – (9th International Festival of Women Composers in Indiana, Pennsylvania, 2010). Other notable works include Suffering, for Ableton Live, giant shadow puppets, and live signal processing, (Australasian Computer Music Conference, Auckland, 2011). In 2010-11, Susan worked with improvising musicians who played a range of instruments from classical to indigenous to electronic, in an ensemble called Let the Art Sing. They came together under Susan’s direction to create structured improvisation around high quality art. During this time she also produced a semi-regular radio show for Radio New Zealand on electroacoustic music. She currently lives in Melbourne. She is a citizen of Canada and New Zealand and has degrees in experimental music and theatre, ancient languages, and theology. She is a member of the Canadian Music Centre, The New Zealand Music Centre (SOUNZ) and Socan, and was a founding member of both The World Forum for Acoustic Ecology and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community. She teaches Acoustic Communication online for Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her music is available from earsay.com, itunes and the New Zealand Music Centre Sounz. Her most recent work is with Australian Artist Matthew Sleeth on his Drone Opera . She has also recently completed a Sound-Art commission for the Sarjeant Art Gallery called Te Ao Mata Kite 1 about the 1995 Pakaitore Occupation.