In a world of infinite scroll, the edges of surprise have been worn smooth.  

Even performance, the last refuge of risk, is being stripped of revelation and sold back as content.   

So, we asked:  

What are we creating that’s worth showing up for?  

Breaking Counterpoint is an immersive, algorithmically scored collision of sound, choreography, and computational media.  

It’s not built for perfection.  

It’s built for volatility.  

This is a chamber ensemble where the musicians play, the dancers trigger responses, the machines interrupt—and the audience completes the circuit. 

These elements converge into a living score: reactive, unstable, and always on the edge of becoming. 

No two performances are the same. 

No single moment can be repeated. 

  Audiences don’t sit outside the work. 

We bring you into the experience. 

To shape it, to witness what only exists because you are there.   

This is performance where presence has stakes, where bodies glitch the system, machines talk back in real-time, and each moment dissolves as soon as it arrives.   

Surprise becomes possible again.   

Breaking Counterpoint is an experiment in collective presence. 

A participatory system. A space for real-time emergence. 

Because this kind of art doesn’t live in a feed. 

It lives in the room. 

And only if you’re there. 

Created by 

Zane Forshee — Guitarist & Producer 

Directed by 

Katherine Helen Fisher 

Choreography & Performance 

Orange Grove Dance 

Choreography by Colette Krogol and Matt Reeves, in collaboration with the performers 

Performers:

London Brison

Levi Coy

Colette Krogol

Matt Reeves 

Visual & Interactive Systems 

Mingyong Cheng

Shimmy Boyle

Katherine Helen Fisher 

Lighting Design 

Peter Leibold VI 

Associate Lighting Design: Malory Hartman 

Developed in collaboration with 

Hyperreal Labs 

Valenciano:

adj. Of or relating to the region or the city of Valencia, its people, their language, their culture.

n. 1. A native or inhabitant of the region of or the city of Valencia.
2. A person of Valencian ancestry.
3. A collection of works for solo guitar that capture the spirit, intimacy, and character of the 20th century musical composition in the province of Valencia.

It gives me great pleasure to share with you a project that had many stages of exploration, trial & error, revision, and finally the finish line: Valenciano: Guitar Works of Asencio, Esplá, & Rodrigo

This endeavor began with a simple observation regarding the Collectici íntim by Vicente Asencio. I noticed that guitarists performing this piece frequently made changes to certain passages without any consistency. This made me ask why? Why did each artist change particular bits of the score? As I studied the work it became apparent that each performer was adjusting the piece to fit their hands and their playing. The published score was edited by Narcisso Yepes (and I’m incredibly thankful that he developed a relationship with Asencio–without this guitarist, there wouldn’t be this body of work created by Asencio…but that’s a topic for a different day). This edition caused me to ask the question: Did Yepe’s change or alter Asencio’s work? Did he make editorial decisions other than suggested fingerings?

The answer is yes.

These questions led me to reconnect with the great guitaristIgnacio Rodes (whom I first met in 1996 at the GFA that was held in St. Louis, Missouri). My teacher, John McClellan, asked me to pickup Ignacio at the airport (you could meet people at the gate back then) and shuttle him around as needed. It was a great opportunity to get to know him and learn about his world. It was a time when people actually had conversations.

Flash forward to the summer of 2008 and I found myself visiting Ignacio’s home in Alicante, and playing for him to see if we would sponsor my application for a Fulbright. He agreed to write a letter of support and over the course of my visit I asked if me might have any information regarding the Valencian composer Vicente Asencio. To my surprise, he not only knew of Asencio, he had a close connection to Matilde Salvador (Asencio’s wife). In addition, he happened to have copies of the manuscripts of the Collectici íntim as well as a wealth of information regarding the composer. Ignacio also had a tremendous understanding of the connection between Asencio and the other composers that were his contemporaries–it was a chance to understand the compositional “scene.”

With much work and support, I was able to move to Spain from 2009-2010 and work with Rodes on this project.

Here are a few takeaways from this experience:

1. Asencio’s music is beautiful, intimate, colorful, and expressive.
2. It was both exciting and informative to see the manuscripts. It is a process that I hope every musician has the opportunity to experience. To climb in and see what the composer wrote, compare it with the published score and form your own decisions/opinions. There are differences and they are significant!
3. The music of Asencio, Esplá, & Rodrigo is challenging to perform both musically & technically.
4. Researching a composer’s life can offer new insight into their compositional evolution. It also provides you with a glimpse, if you’re paying attention, into their personality, their struggles, and their achievements. You also begin to see how that may impact the artistic work they produce.
5. Sometimes projects take a while to complete. (Visit here & this post, too).

The performances that comprise this recording are informed by my research in Spain working with Ignacio in the province of Valencia, my time writing my final DMA document, Vicente Asencio and his Collectici íntim : in search of a text : the role of creation, collaboration, and textual comparison to create a performer’s edition of Ascencio’s guitar masterwork, and the time I spent thinking about, living with, and performing these pieces.

Progress is never a straight line:

A little over 9 years ago, I contacted my friend and colleague, Judah Adashi, about a piece he’d recently written: my heart comes undone. I was familiar with the string ensemble version of this work that was commissioned and premiered by the Peabody  Preparatory Strings Department and had become acquainted with the version he made for solo cello and loop pedal that was premiered and recorded by Lavena Johanson.

As I set to work, several discoveries were made:

1. The guitar is NOT the cello or any other bowed instrument.
2. The quest for the perfect tone on an electric guitar is a challenging task that requires as much focus, detail, and study as creating it on a classical guitar.
3. Working with a loop pedal shows you at your best and your worst…in the beginning you hear yourself primarily at your worst.
4. Key Signatures are important.

There was a learning curve.  I had to figure out a way to make the long lines of each part sustain and connect similarly to that of a bowed instrument while still remaining true to the guitar.  Also, how could I create a sound that was as full as a cello and yet as clear and transparent as I imagined in my head?  You can hear my early attempts at this here.  My setup was simple: Guitar + Tube Screamer TS9 (that’s an effect pedal—yeah, I like the name, too) + Loop Pedal + Amplifier = Sound.

More about this journey can be found in my blog.

BLOG POSTS ABOUT THIS RECORDING:
my heart comes undone by Judah Adashi