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Michael Gendreau

Michael Gendreau has composed and performed solo as well as in several group configurations since 1979. His former group, Crawling With Tarts (1983 – 1998), expressed ideas within elementalism and pre-language states. Gendreau has elaborated on this while adding concepts inspired by his studies of physics, parataxis, philosophies centered on temporal and environmental persistence; and his experiments with small motors and turntable mechanisms. Performances have involved one-off transcription discs cast by others in the middle of the last century, and those cut in his studio using a decrepit lathe. More recently, Gendreau has sought to extend these studies, while experimenting with the use of a building as a speaker. He records infrasonic vibrations of a performance space, then in the concert, he uses the structure’s resonances as an additional instrument in his site-specific compositions. These practices are based in part on his current work as an acoustician working primarily on low-vibration and noise design for buildings. Gendreau has performed these site-specific compositions in locations around the world: Valencia, Spain; Paris, France; Athens, Greece; Lausanne, Switzerland; and others