Cora Schmeiser ( Mainz, Germany, 1970)
Completed her Diploma for Instrumental pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1997 and her Bachelor degree in singing at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, in 2000, where she studied with Lenie van der Heuvel, Wout Oosterkamp and Gerda van Zelm.
She has followed courses and master classes for the Style and Interpretation of Early Music with Jill Feldman, Marius van Altena, Michael Schopper and Richard Wistreich, and for Modern Music and Improvisation by Ton Hartsuiker, Inge Fröhlich, Greetje Bijma, Isabelle Ganz, Barbara Hannigan, Claron McFadden, the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart and the Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium (2002-2004, since then member). She is currently coached by Ronald Klekamp.
Her main interest is to explore the posibilities and limitations of the voice - occasionally in combination with actions or movements - on the basis of vocal experiments. Her search for different timbres and corresponding vocal expressivity is always linked to fine taste and sense of style regarding the repertory to be performed: medieval, renaissance, baroque, classic or contemporary.
____________________________________________________________________________
Juan Parra Cancino (Osorno, Chile, 1979)
Studied Composition in the Catholic University of Chile and Sonology at The Royal Conservatory of The Hague (NL) His Compositions, that include pure electronic and electro acoustic mixed media have been performed in Europe, North and South America in festivals such as “RUMOR” (NL), “Primavera en La Habana” (Cuba), “Synthese “(FR) “Sonorities” (Belfast, UK), NWEAMO ( USA) and have been awarded at the Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competitions of 2003 and 2004. His recent collaborations/projects include live electronics for dance, silent movies, and performances with musicians like Richard Barrrett, Anne Faulborn and Yutaka Makino. He is founder and active member of The Electronic Hammer, a Computer and Percussion Music Ensemble devoted to the promotion, creation and diffusion of the music of the XXI century. They have support of The Gaudeamus Foundation and the Institute of Sonology of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
WireGriot (re)constructs a repertoire for solo voice that is actively challenged and enhanced by the use of technology through a shared desire to explore the blurry borders of contemporary music. By showing the voice in three stages-highly exposed and alone, manically disguised, and calmly blended within an electronic albeit “natural” surrounding- Cora Schmeiser and Juan Parra seek contrasting ways in which a human voice can be used to express to both the cognitive and intuitive senses.
