Biografie
Melody Chua actively pushes the development of interdisciplinary works by bringing together music performance, interactive programming, and immersive visual mediums into her own practice. Her current research focuses on creative applications of machine algorithms in improvised performance.
Melody's work revolves around designing sounds and visuals in interactive formats, and she eagerly experiments with different technical instruments and human-computer interactions. Examples include developing an interactive sound/visual installation for a 360-degree touchscreen as part of an artist residency at the ICST Immersive Lab, working with two motion capture systems to generate reactive sound in dance performance (ZHdK Immersive Arts Space, Mirror MirrOr), and utilizing electronic, pressure-sensitive shoes (Daniel Bisig, Sounding Feet) to create new interactive works for dancer and electronics -- among other projects. Her recent work for pressure-sensitive shoes, next step, was premiered at Refresh #2 as part of the 2019 Zürich Digital Festival.
She is the co-creator of the Chaosflöte, a sensor-augmented flute used in performances in which live electronic sounds and visuals can be influenced by the actions of the performer (be it through movement, sound generation, speed of airflow, and other combinations of behaviors). She has composed and premiered several works for the Chaosflöte and has performed and/or presented at festivals and institutions such as the Zürich Digital Festival, Montreal Contemporary Music Lab,ZKM Next Generation Festival, Geneva International Film Festival, La Côte Flute Festival, Swiss Digital Day, PAM-Hörmal Festival, USF New Music Festival, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and for members of the Swiss Parliament, among others. She is a recipient of a Fulbright/Swiss Excellence scholarship, New Music USA grant, Thomas J. Smith Scholarship, UIUC Chancellor's Scholar Award of Artistic Excellence, was a fellow at the Future Music Lab of the Atlantic Music Festival, and has completed artist residencies at the Timucua Arts Foundation Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology Immersive Lab and at the University of South Florida School of Music. Upcoming engagements include premieres at Kein Museum (solo exhibition/installation), 2021 Performing Media Festival (featured guest artist), and the 2021 La Côte Flute Festival (performing artist). She has studied classical and contemporary flute under Matthias Ziegler, Dr. Jonathan Keeble, and Shanna Pranaitis.
Melody is the co-founder and co-executive director of Null-state, a non-profit organization specializing in performances with live-coding and sensor-augmented instruments and educational workshops on interactive electronics.
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