Sonia Paço-Rocchia

Sonia Paço-Rocchia (/so.ˈnja ˈpa.so ˈrɔ.kja/), born in 1982 in Montreal, is a composer, multidisciplinary artist, improviser, bassoonist and creative coder.

Biography After graduating in mixed music composition from the Université de Montréal in 2005, she began her career in Europe, where she was based mainly in London. She later moved to the Laurentides region England In 2019, she became the first woman to receive the in the "Creation of the Year" category.

Sonia Paço-Rocchia's approach focuses on sounds, timbres and open musical forms. Her research includes the exploitation and expansion of the sound palettes of instruments through playing techniques or live electronics, inventing her own instruments and instrument automatons. Her pieces frequently involve a visual or theatrical aspect.

Sonia Paço-Rocchia is bassoonist-improviser with the . She regularly improvises with chamber ensembles, such as The Fantastique Quintet, VibraLib and ZzCc or as a soloist.

Work

Compositions

Justine et les machines, opera on a libretto by Marie-Ève Bouchard, commissioned by the 3 FEMMES prize by Mécénat Musica (2021-2022) a Stemsaw Ode au métal is a work for saxophone quartet performing inside an installation, made of large metal pieces augmented with electronics, Nouvelle vie, nouvelle ville is a created for the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city of Montreal. Commissioned by the Pointe à Callière Museum, it is a composition for brass quintet (Magnitude6), musical saw, Stemsaw, train sirens, boats sirens and the carillon of Notre-Dame Basilica. (2017) Said, live coding performance made with a live coding web platform developed by the artist, presented among others places at StudioXX (2017) D’un autre côté, for guitar, harp, harpsichord, cymbalum, double bass, five Cubes Il temps-te, variations and improvisations avec theatricality, for cornet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, trumpet and quadraphonic live electronics. Soupirs, for solo clarinet, voice and live electronics. CAM, for seven musicians playing Société de transport de Montréal metro cards, amplification on a quadraphonic setup. (2001)

Installations

When the Saws are Alone in the Woods, an automated musical saw quartet installed in a sugar maple forest that can be visited virtually and interacted with via an online poetic journey in which each choice influences the composition and the video. (2020) Flex, a sound, kinetic and interactive installation, an automated flexatone ensemble playing an interactive non-linear composition, presented in Curiosités sonores ambulantes (the artist's van-gallery). (2019, 2022) Ode au métal is a work for saxophone quartet performing inside an installation, made of large metal pieces augmented with electronics, Lames, site-specific interactive sound installation for automated musical saw ensemble, commissioned by Centre Daïmôn, Hull, for the Interstices 150th of Confederation event (2017), presented at Electric Eclectics Festival, Meaford and at NAISA, South River. Scies, interactive sound installation with generative non-linear composition for ensemble of sound automatons made from circular saw blades (2016), presented at Modern Fuel Gallery during Tone Deaf. Hélix, a site-specific interactive sound installation with up to twenty Helixophone Quai 5160, Traverse, Atelier de l'île, Val David, Quebec (2019) City Sonic and Park in Progress, International sound art festival, Mons, Belgium (2013) Installation sur le Slinky version pour la Croatie, Vrijeme nakon 2011, Gallery Kortil, Rijeka, Croatia (2011) Leytonstone Arts Trail, London (2010) Interactive Sound Installation on Living Room Scale Installation by Takako Jin, during Leytonstone Art Trail, London (2009) A Cup of Tea Solves Everything, London (2009)

Discography Sonia Paço-Rocchia, Improvisation For Bicycle LIO LEO LEON, Emanem Disc Cornelius Cardew – The Great Learning Hutch Demouilpied – Otherness Album Avant-garde-robe

Awards and recognition Finalist for the Artiste de l'année des Laurentides award from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec Winner of the Excellence in performing arts award from the for her work Ode au métal, her research and her international outreach Winner of the Mécénat Musica's 3 FEMMES award 2020-2021 Finalist in the "Creation of the Year" category of the for her work Trouée in 2020 Winner of the , in the category "Creation of the Year" for the work Ode to Metal in 2019