Lingua Franca

Index Filicum (2011) was commissioned by Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago for their Florasonic series of sound installations in the Fern Room at Lincoln Park Conservatory. Four vocalists sing the Latin names of the fern species in the collection, and whisper the English names. Their improvised parts were recorded individually over a bed of drones derived from room tone recorded at the site, then edited and assembled into a series of miniature motets. Voices: Jeremiah Cawley, Amy Denio, Katherine Hanson, Maria Mannisto; recorded by Steve Ditore at Jack Straw Productions, Seattle. Lies dos Antepassados / Lessons from the Ancestors (2011) was made during a Binaural artist residency in Nodar, a small mountain village in central Portugal. First presented as a four-channel installation in the village chapel, it was revised in 2013 as an eight-channel version at Jack Straw New Media Gallery in Seattle. Ancestral names from the cemeteries of Nodar and seven nearby villages are whispered. The names of local species of flora and fauna are spoken in Portuguese and sung in Latin. Ambient sounds are ordered by time of day, marked by chapel bells from each village. Speaking voices: Diana Antunes, Lus Costa, Ines Henriques, Jos Henriques, Ana Inacio, Carina Martins, Lus Miguel Carvalho Ramos, Jorge Varanda. Singing voice: Manuela Barile.