q = heart

"q=♥" is a 20 minute string quartet. The string quartet musicians are each connected to a device called “pulse sensor” that translates the speed of their hearts beat into a 4 different LED light signals. Each musician follows someone else's corresponding LED light signal and plays in response to the rhythm of its pulse. There are always 4 concurrent tempo's-- the heart rates of the players. Playing at the tempo of someone else's heart beat creates a new opportunity for connection between the players, inviting instinctive listening and making them depend on one another. I wanted to bring my performative experience as a dancer to a musical situation, a string quartet. Once I fainted in the middle of the night. When I woke up, I remember trying to find my pulse but couldn’t find it. Since then, I developed the habit for listening to my heart rate to see if it starts to drop. This experience, alongside a break of heart I went through led me to use the speed of our hearts as a creation tool. The whole piece is divided to three: The first movement is in the tempo of hearts beats. The second movement is in the tempo of breath. The third is in the tempo of real-time musical reaction to one another.