Jorge Gómez Elizondo - Composition

Orchids & Wasps: Composition as an Aesthetic of Change

In the growing upheaval in the field of multimedia composition, numerous practical and theoretical discourses have emerged that approach musical composition with the observation that sound alone is no longer sufficient to express musical ideas. The myriad compositional materials and forms used to explore musical ideas range from microcontrollers, YouTube, sound installations, performance strategies, VR, everyday objects, AI, and an ever-growing list that composers, performers, and audiences confront. 

My research project is concerned with the systematized practice and theory of composing works conceived as a cycle in which multimedia transformation processes are emphasized. I compose a cycle of works, magnifying an identifiable characteristic feature of an initial composition, and articulate the work through various multimedia possibilities. I understand these repetitions as a system of difference through repetition that consolidates a continuous state in the state of flux. 

The recurring orchid and wasp in the writings of Deleuze and Guattari illustrate richly interconnected concepts - rhizome, lines of flight, multiplicity, becoming, deterritorialization, among others - that I employ in my artistic practice as a fundamental part of the creative process. My concept of multimedia composition relates to this double figure and its associated concepts as the multiple ways in which media relate to each other in unexpected ways and set processes in motion. 

Research questions that arise are: How can I develop new approaches to musical composition through an aesthetic of change, in the form of a cycle of works that differentiate themselves through the use of various media? What strategies can I come up with to create these differentiating pieces? What happens to the idea when it is actualized through a different multimedia configuration?

First supervisor: Univ. Prof. Carola Bauckholt, ABPU
Second supervisor: Ao Univ. Prof. Dr. Tasos  Zembylas, mdw

Biography

Jorge Gómez Elizondo strives toward constant renewal and transformation. His works combine musical composition, sound art, performance, and scenic aspects. He writes compositions in which the random, the planned, the improvised are interwoven with a multiplicity of meanings or a recontextualization of space and sound. Some of the recurring themes in his work are transformation, perspective, multiplicity, narrative and improvisation.

Jorge studied composition in Monterrey (UANL, Bachelor) and music technology in Mexico City (UNAM, Master) with Ricardo Martínez and Roberto Morales. He completed his master's degree in composition at Anton Bruckner Private University with Carola Bauckholt and is currently a doctoral student in the artistic-scholarly doctoral program at Anton Bruckner Private University.

In 2020, he received the Startstipendium für Musik und Darstellende Kunst from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sports, and the composition grant from the City of Vienna for his music theater piece All is Well (Sisyphus is still happy). In 2018, the Bruckner Orchestra performed aus Holz und Fleisch as part of the "Anhörung" in Linz, Austria. The solo violin piece Anamensis won first prize at the national competition for scores, XI Festival Internacional de Música Nueva Monterrey.

His music has been performed by ensembles such as PHACE, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Schallfeld, Ensemble Recherche, Vertixe Sonora, Phoenix, Oerknal! Liminar, Schlagquartett Köln, Toyen Fil øg Klafferi and Norwegian Cornett and Sackbuts Ensemble.