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NDSU Faculty Lecture Recital Explores Communication, Technology, and Contemporary Music

FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota State University composition faculty member Kyle Vanderburg presented a Faculty Composition Lecture Recital on January 30, 2026, in Beckwith Recital Hall, combining live performance, audience participation, and discussion of contemporary creative practice.

The event featured two original compositions and accompanying commentary examining the ways music functions as a form of communication—between performers, audiences, and increasingly, digital networks.

The first work, Theme and Conversation, for two clarinets and piano, explores the dynamics of human interaction through a series of musical dialogues. The nine-movement work examines different modes of communication, including debate, collaboration, disagreement, and reconciliation, translating conversational behaviors into musical form. Performers included Cassie Keogh and Leigh Wakefield, clarinets, and Kanjie Su, piano.

The second half of the program focused on Mothership, a participatory work that incorporates audience members, cellular phones, and internet-connected technologies as part of the performance itself. The work was accompanied by a discussion of composing for networked environments and the unexpected artistic and technical challenges that emerge when music extends beyond the traditional concert stage.

The lecture recital reflects ongoing research interests in contemporary composition, interactive media, audience participation, and the intersection of music and technology. These themes also inform coursework in composition, entrepreneurship, and creative technologies within the Challey School of Music.

By combining performance, discussion, and interactive technology, the event provided audiences with a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process while highlighting new possibilities for musical collaboration in the digital age.

For more information about composition studies at North Dakota State University, visit ndsucomposition.com.