Scored for three improvising musicians and three laptop performers, Trumpen is based on samples from public statements by then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. The sample playback by the electronic musicians is complemented with a guided improvisation by the acoustic players, leading to a large climax consisting of human sounds and noise. All musicians read their music off tablets and computer screens, the content of which is also visible to the audience. “Trumpen” means “grumpy” in Swedish and was named by the Erasmus exchange student Mathias Josefson who took my networked music performance class in 2016/17.
Trumpen was first performed in Perth, Australia in March 2017 and received its North-American premiere on July 15 at the National Sawdust Theater as part of the NYCEMF.
A picture of the performance can be viewed here.