Fearless Reception

Fearless Reception – Project Description Ralph Lewis and Rogue Trio

Few experiences excite the passions in our hearts as much as the transmission of sound and the transit of people. When broadcasts transmit, their sounds enter new spaces and provoke intense, conflicting emotions, especially when they question or subvert previous senses of balance and hierarchy. In Fearless Reception, The Arizona-based Rogue Trio and I are partnering for a multimedia radio work that combines first-hand Mexican- American immigration narratives with a mixture of compositions and trans-idiomatic improvised music for live acoustic instruments and electroacoustic performance.

When a broadcast emerges from a radio’s receiver, it comes into contact with its new surroundings: those listening begin a process of deciding whether to try to understand the received sound or to reject it. When an immigrant comes to Arizona, similar reception- based emotions occur. Fears about “others” and difference happen on both sides. Anger flows from injustices and misunderstandings. But love, even amid the imperfect and distorted negative reception, blooms through community members recognizing their shared humanity. By continuing to broadcast through the hardships perhaps we can give other people the fearless reception they deserve.

As part of our production for Fearless Reception, we will be teaming up with immigration advocacy groups in Rogue Trio community, including Puente Arizona. In performance, their input is critical: Fearless Reception will include a live spoken-word performer with whom Rogue Trio and I will be interacting with during three of the work’s seven sections. We will also use recordings of community members’ recollections of their experiences in their new home state.