In this interview with Brazilian composer Bruno Ruviaro (Santa Clara University), we discuss his work with the SCLOrk laptop orchestra that does live coding; Sympathy, a work that centers on the recording and replay of sounds; and Pós-Tudos (Post-Everything), a series of piano etudes that incorporate elements of Brazilian musics. Ruvario also shares his thoughts about his changing approach to music creation, ranging from the conventional composer concept to his recent practice of creating inclusive spaces for improvisatory play and listening; viewers may be interested in his detailed description of the technical and social-relational aspects of his work with group electronic music-making. We end with Ruvario’s thoughts about his various identities (white, Brazilian, Latino) and how they relate to his music. Throughout, we get a good sense of one white male composer’s dawning realization of and attempts to decenter whiteness in composition.
edited by Gavin S.K. Lee