Composed between 1988-1989 by Italian avant-gardist Luigi Nono, La Lontananza is an improvisatory performance with a transforming soundscape— that of the composer/spatializer, who spatializes, recombines, and effects Nono’s eight, hour-long tapes (including the musings of violinist Gidon Kremer, incidental, environmental and concrete sound) into a multi-channel work ranging from 35-60 minutes, and that of the violinist, who improvises with the composer. On February 22nd 2024, Michelle Helene Mackenzie performed the piece with Italian violinist/violist Marco Fusi across over 250 speakers using UCSD Professor of Sound Design Bobby McElver’s wavefield synthesis array. The piece was commissioned by the Qualcomm Institute’s IDEAS series.
