Performing on the terpsichora pressure-sensitive floors, an electronic instrument controlled by whole-body movement, Iran Sanadzadeh performs from her upcoming debut album, Ocean, Again. This performance uses the gestural vocabulary learned on the instrument to control a large number of sonic parameters with few controls. The sonic aesthetic, minimal in starting material, weaves dichotomies resulting from unintuitive mappings on the instrument to find new sound associations. This work wonders if between the embodied feeling of movement and sonic stasis, small actions and rapid change, new experiences of musical structure might be formed. 

Iran Sanadzadeh is a performer and composer based in Melbourne, Australia. Her work explores the possible relationships between movement and sound using her set of Terpsichora Pressure-Sensitive Floors. Her compositional interests in sparseness, stillness and translating different analogies of time across sound-making methods, is increasingly drawn from her work with the Floors. The Floors, an interactive electronic instrument following earlier versions used by the pioneering Australian Dancer, were a finalist in the 2023 Guthman Prize for Musical Instruements. Her collaborative practice-based research focuses on interaction design for music, movement and dance. Having studied her at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, Iran holds a Ph.D. in finite element modelling for musical acoustics. She is currently the Convenor of Composition and Music Technology at Monash University and is an active improvisor and performer. 

The following pre-show talk with the artist will be held at 6:00 PM.

The Terpsichora Floors: Design and Performance from Interface to Instrument
The Terpsichora Pressure-Sensitive Floors are a set of wooden platforms used as an interface for electronic music. This instrument builds on the original designs of a set made in 1972 for pioneering Australian dancer Philippa Cullen. In this session, Iran Sanadzadeh explains the performance practice cultivated in using this inconvenient, simple and restrictive layout that transforms it from an interface to a versatile instrument available for musical expression in improvisation. 

Admission Information

• Free admission
• Livestreaming at CCRMA Live
• Face coverings are strongly recommended. We encourage you to continue wearing masks for the comfort of our audience members, artists, and staff. For more information please visit CCRMA's COVID-19 Policies.