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  • September 18, 2009
  • Christine Davis Mantai

Modal KombatThe Ethos New Music Society at SUNY Fredonia will host classical guitarists in a guitar-controlled video game battle.

The “battle” will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 8 p.m. in the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall on campus.

School of Music guitar faculty member Evan Drummond and guest guitarist David Hindman, both Yale School of Music graduates, have developed technology that allows classical-electric guitars to control the characters in console video games. Modal Kombat is at the intersection between music, visual arts, and digital media that results in the defining of a new genre of audio-visual performance: the public guitar-controlled video game battle.

Mr. Hindman keeps busy as a musician, interactive artist, and user experience designer. He holds degrees in Economics, Classical Guitar Performance, and Interactive Media from Northwestern University, Yale, and New York University, respectively. He is currently a 2009 Artist in Residence at Harvestworks.org, where he is continuing to develop software and hardware to allow guitars to control PC video games and PC game engines.

Mr. Drummond is currently a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music. His educational credits also include graduation from Interlochen Arts Academy, a Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music, and a master’s degree in Music from Yale. Most recently, Mr. Drummond earned his Professional Studies Certificate at the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to his emergent status as a performer, and educator, he has also experienced some early success as an arranger. He recently signed with Dunvagen Music Publications for an arrangement of a Phillip Glass composition and has also become a guest feature writer for Guitar Review Magazine.

For more information on Ethos New Music Society, visit https://www.facebook.com/ethosnewmusic

The Ethos New Music Society is a student group devoted the exploration of twentieth century music and is guided by Dr. Rob Deemer, who heads SUNY Fredonia’s music composition area.

Event tickets are $2 for students and $5 for the public and are available at the SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office either by phone at 716-673-3501 or toll-free at 866-441-4928, online at https://www.fredonia.edu/tickets/ or in person at the ticket office in the Williams Center.