Ah, the pretentious joys of kooky academes. Though tonight may end in a foot of snow on the ground and the requisite feelings of trapped hopelessness, there are those among us who can think of no more an appropriate cathartic expression of this climate-induced angst than to witness a group of Chicago music professors produce bizarre and alien noise experiments by torturing instruments of their own invention. Tonight, Krannert Art Museum hosts a performance by the new electro-acoustic, improvisational trio Auris, comprised of Julia Miller on guitar, Christopher Preissing on flute, and Eric Leonardson on an invented instrument amusingly dubbed “the springboard,” with all three utilizing electronics.
The three have impeccable pedigrees, Miller teaching at the Music Institute of Chicago and, along with Leonard, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Preissing serves as director of the Chicago Composers Forum. Combining composition and improv, the group’s sound ranges from extended tones to piercing solos, often rising into prickly cacophonies. It’s definitely out-there stuff, but one imagines this group of studious, high-minded fellows capable of squealing and banging their way through quite an exciting evening, for those so inclined.
Auris takes the stage tonight for Sudden Sound Concert Series at Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Dr. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. No charge.