With a modified cello and a web of cables, pedals, and speakers, Jordan Hamilton's visit to Studio A didn't look — or sound — like a most cellists'.
The Kalamazoo-based musician is classically trained, but between his knack for improvisation and interest in genres from hip-hop to jazz, he's using his two performance degrees to do more than orchestral playing.
This summer, he's bringing what he describes as "avant-garde, folk-soul music" to the Traverse City Dance Project as a second-year NewVo Fellow.
The Traverse City Dance Project designed the NewVo fellowship program to connect musicians and choreographers as they collaborate on new works for the organization’s dancers.
Hamilton said working with the dancers and choreographers has sparked new musical ideas, and that he came into his second season with the dance project with a more interactive compositional process in mind.
"I wanted more chances for the melodies not to be created but interpreted and made up on the spot from the dancers," he said.
He said prior experience working with dancers helped the process, too.
"I already knew what I needed to bring to the table in order to keep it stable for them to be able to repeat the moves and perform at a high level and also invoke the emotions," he said.
Hamilton is still playing traditional cello repertoire, though.
Traverse City Dance Project director Jennifer McQuiston Lott asked him to perform music from J.S. Bach's cello suites with the dancers, too.
"You always study these pieces with dancing in mind, and it's cool to just be able to see the dancing actually happening," he said.
Listen to the episode to hear Hamilton's full interview and performances of the Sarabande from Bach's Cello Suite No. 2 and "Movement Two," music Hamilton wrote for the Traverse City Dance Project.
See Hamilton perform live on the Traverse City Dance Project’s 2023 Community Tour.
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