Ryan Packard
Composition / Sound
My project for the High Concept Labs Fall Sponsorship will focus on recording and presenting sound installation, music compositions, and a work for video and ensemble designed specifically for the High Concept Labs space.
The following works will be presented:
- A sound installation for amateur choir, wind instruments and sub woofers. I’ve become increasingly interested in individuals expressing natural responses to immediate sonic stimuli. While I admire proficiency on an instrument, I welcome shared musical experiences that are not focused on performers executing “trained” and “virtuosic” musicianship. I wish to incorporate the sonic expressions created from individuals, in commune, in subtle sensory-stimulating environments.
- A new work for string trio and video. I’ve grown to admire and deeply appreciate the unique sonic qualities, visual presentation of the space, and how resonant bodies, both instrumental and human interact within the space. The HCL space has untapped potential for sonic and visual works to express psychoacoustic, psychological and physical states that exist within the glass room, outside of the room, or even in separate spaces inside or outside of Mana. I would like to collaborate with the artist Erika Råberg on this piece, as she will make a 2-4 channel video projection for the HCL space.
- A long form sound installation / composition for electronics and percussion utilizing sympathetic resonation via snare drums and active speaker cones used as a percussion implement.”
Artist Bio
Ryan Packard is a percussionist, composer and sound artist based in Chicago, IL. His sound installations have been featured at the MCA Chicago with Eighth Blackbird; Defibrillator with performance artist, Victoria Bradford; Hyde Park Arts Center and Galeria Labirynt (Lublin, Poland) with Nelly Agassi and Peter Maunu; and he has had solo shows at High Concept Labs, Constellation Chicago, Experimental Sound Studio, and with the Fulton Street Dance Collective. As a composer, Ryan’s works have been performed by Fonema Consort, Seth Parker Woods, The Morton Feldman Chamber Players, AndPlay Duo, and The Wiseacre String Quartet. As an improviser, Ryan performs regularly with Dave Rempis and Brandon Lopez, Jasper Stadhouders, Oscar Jan Hoogland, ZRL (Zach Good and Lia Kohl), Nestle (Cyrus Pireh and Rob Lundberg), Keefe Jackson and Manuel Troller, Kieran Daly and Charlie Kirchen, Daniel Wyche, 4eyes (Preston Beebe, Ryan Packard) as well as the Chicago improvised music scene. He is also in the newest reincarnation of the NYC experimental indie rock band, Skeleton$ and Chicago’s experimental indie rock outfit, Wei Zhongle. He’s a member of Fonema Consort and has performed with Dal Niente Ensemble, Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society, MOCREP, a.pe.ri.od.ic ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, Architek Percussion Ensemble, Chicago Composer’s Orchestra and Nate Kinsella’s Birthmark. Ryan has a masters of music from McGill University and bachelor of music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.