SoSCC commissioned a work titled negative expanse by UC Berkeley composer  Jon Kulpa and performed by the Friction Quartet.Themed on the dramatic orbiting and “descent” into a black hole, then collapse to a quantum singularity, this piece was been created for installation/performance in science venues, planetariums and other suitable spaces. negative expanse (2017) was premiered by the Friction Quartet in combination with an electronically interactive sound system in UC Berkeley’s Hearst Memorial Mining Building on April 30, 2017 as part of an astronomically-themed program entitled Spaced Out. The live performance was recorded and can be seen and heard here.

Excerpts from Program notes posted in January 2018 by composer Jon Kulpa.

negative expanse (2017) for amplified string quartet and 8-channel speaker environment

Commissioned by Sounds of Science Commissioning Club and Friction Quartet,negative expanse explores through sound what might exist at the event horizon and interior of a black hole.  Throughout the piece, the amplified quartet interacts with sampled sounds and other electronics played through eight speakers positioned around the space (4 on the outer perimeter facing inward, and 4 at the center facing outward). The players begin at four corners outside the audience, conveying a scene outside the event horizon where matter is becoming exponentially redshifted as it falls inward. To coordinate events when the players are physically spread out, a cueing system was constructed, sounding in the players’ headphones, marking entrances, cutoffs and details in between.  The audience was encouraged to walk around the three-floor atrium of the UC Berkeley Hearst Memorial Mining Building as the piece was performed to observe the experience from different vantages.

Twice during the piece, electronic music takes over, allowing each player to physically move their position towards the center.  The music gradually becomes more frenetic and high-pitched to depict the infinite blueshifting of energy.  Time sometimes folds back on itself, a counterpoint involving the arrow of time.  Ultimately, the quartet converges upon the center of the performance space (inside the inner ring of speakers).  There, the music speculates about what happens to energy as it approaches the central singularity; upon reaching this inevitable point of infinite density, time is nearly frozen except for quantum particles zipping in and out of existence and tunneling into other universes. 

Programmed as part of Spaced Out at the UC Berkeley Hearst Memorial Mining Building

See the setup and rehearsal for the premiere in this video, featuring the live performers of the Friction Quartet (Doug Machiz, cello; Kevin Rogers, violin; Lucia Kobza, violin; Otis Harriel, viola) in combination with pre-recorded and electronically manipulated music.