Residency artists and researchers Music Sarah Albu Vocalist, composer/performance-maker, textile artist Photo: Jussi Virkkumaa I am working with exploding the materiality of the voice through several lenses. My research extends the definition of “voice” through an investigation of human relationship to nature, tradition, technology- specifically communications technology- and forced obsolescence, repurposing and reimagining contexts for “vintage” technological objects originally designed for storing (recording) and transporting the human voice outside of the body. I mainly work with sound, text, and physicality. Here I will also develop my textile practice by knitting an anatomically correct larynx puppet, transporting my voice outside of my body so I can hold it in my hands and share/experience it in a way that is visual and tactile as well as aural. We think of the voice as ethereal, unseen, mysterious; imagery and imitation is used in voice teaching to affect tangible results. Can the voice be reduced to this mysterious organ or is it something more? My working methods oscillate between theoretical, corporeal and tactile, often involving humour. Ultimately I work in a practical way, investigating the body as a technology in itself; a filter for experience. SARAH ALBU is a singer, composer and performance-maker based in Tio’tia:ke (Montréal, Canada). Her background in theatre and obsession with science fiction feed quirky and darkly comedic imagined worlds. An active soloist specializing in new/experimental music, 20th century repertoire and free improvisation, she can be heard in settings ranging from traditional Balkan village music and ancient polyphony to video game soundtracks, contemporary opera, noise and psychedelic rock. She is a founding member of the experimental voice collective Phth and frequently collaborates with artists working in video, installation, contemporary dance, theatre and digital media. She has premiered many new works and contemporary opera roles, and can be heard on a multitude of recordings as a soloist and as a guest artist. She holds BFAs in Theatre and Music Performance from Concordia University and an MMus from the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague (NL).