Cohere Touch is the second piece in a series of pieces written for decentralized simultaneous telematic performance that reveals and plays with the connections we have all around us. “Touch” in the title comes from participants being in one physical space and feeling the other networked locations and music, affecting them with movement and sound, essentially touching a shared canvas physically and sonically. In addition to being a musical piece, Cohere Touch is a specially designed augmented reality system that allows performers and audience to play music together, and affect their own in-person space as well as the other networked spaces participating in the piece. 

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From the composer: I believe that if we have a genuine and open creative process in our learning and art, those virtues can influence how we see the people we share the world with. Knowing and appreciating every connection we have to each other and every positive thing we can do together, big or small, without bias, but excitement and enthusiasm for problem solving, possibility, and the future, will help build a better world and bring us all closer together. That is my goal for this piece.

‍Educational module

Students work together to explore rhythmic and sonic space through Trevor New’s multimedia virtual Cohere Touch system, which processes sound and video in real time over Zoom or other remote learning platforms. Through experimentation with the system, students can engage in co-creation alongside each other and the composer taking directly from the sounds, textures, melodies, and rhythm already in the room.

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From the composer: "Co-Creation" is the name for what I try to embody when making music and art, and is the name of this program. It’s a perspective on creating that helps participants and performers to feel how we’re all connected and work together to make a piece of art that reflects those connections.

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Cohere Touch is published by American Composers Orchestra via EarShot: Advancing Equity through Publishing & Repertoire Development, made possible through support from the Sphinx Organization. Cohere Touch is commissioned by the American Composers orchestra with support from Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting and from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Cohere Touch was workshopped as part of ACO’s EarShot CoLABoratory, generously funded by TD Charitable Foundation.