The Institute for Sonic Ponderance

The Institute For Sonic Ponderance was founded in a rickety house in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood in January of 1994. ISP was a clear solution to aims by three individuals with diverse but overlapping interests. Robert Cozzolino was a professional musician and composer in search of greater freedom; Richard Holland was an artist increasingly fascinated by sound art and the construction of new objects for the production of sound; Randy van Ort was a talented computer enthusiast with an interest in composition and ambient music. Together they formed an umbrella organization and music laboratory to experiment without prejudice on the nature of performance, time, and sound.

With this core group, ISP accepted dance and chamber music commissions, staged elaborate performance pieces, performed radio plays and sound pieces, and recorded extensively. Most activities were augmented with a wide array of guest performers. Following the departure of van Ort in 1995, Cozzolino and Holland continued to perform and record albeit in a more hermetic fashion. From 1995 to 1997 ISP was primarily a duo project that persisted despite each member's additional collaborative and solo work. In 1998 van Ort rejoined Cozzolino and Holland on stage in a moving reunion show. Since 1999 ISP has been headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Later this year, Mr. Cozzolino and Mr. Holland plan to release their first CD under The Institute for Sonic Ponderance name since 1997.

Described by critics as "electro-acoustic fragmented classical" and "the work of psychosis saturated somnambulists," ISP examines just about every genre of music, sifting it all through late twentieth-century conceptual strategies. Improvisation, collage, twelve-tone, minimalist and computer-based chance operations have been employed in ISP compositions. ISP is a shocking musical hybrid; wide-ranging international and historical sources fight or harmonize with live playing and intricate structures. Gab Binocular Howler Monkey features everything from death-screech bleating guitars splattered around an irregular, spasmodic drum beat (featuring vocals by an actual priest) to sweeping, seamlessly assembled multi-textural works in which violin and percussion are on the same hierarchical level as feedback, glass, location noise, accidental electronic tones and short-wave signals.

ISP accepts commissions for sacred and profane projects alike.
Inquiries? Contact:
bob@ponderance.org or rholland@ponderance.org

Selected Discography:

The Early Works, 1993-1995

Live Shows and Fluxus Performances (1994-97)

Gab Binocular Howler Monkey (op. 1, 1995)

New Works by Cozzolino/Holland (1997)

Selected Performance History

Institute for Sonic Ponderance (Cozzolino/Holland) and associated ensembles:

Dr. Santini’s Hour of Mystery November 20, 2000 radio theater performance piece WORT 89.9 FM Madison, WI .

ISP Reunion Tour August 7, 1998 Hokin Center, Columbia College, Chicago [Cozzolino, Holland, Van Ort]

Maximalist Performance May 30, 1998 performance of the Ponderance Dub Ensemble at The Arts Club of Chicago, Artforum party.

Dinner Party Maximalist June 8, 1997 Ponderance Dub Ensemble performs at dinner party and nearly clears entire room.

Maximalist Performance May 31, 1997 performance of the Ponderance Dub Ensemble at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Artforum party.

The End: Final Live Show May 17, 1997 at Around the Coyote Gallery, Chicago

The Chuck King Lucite Buttercup May 17, 1997 at Around the Coyote Gallery, Chicago [featuring Mark Booth, Robert Cozzolino, Richard Holland, Charles King]

Performance Anxiety April 18, 1997 Performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in conjunction with the exhibition, "Performance Anxiety." Performed in Rikrit Traviata's Untitled, 1996-97 (Studio).

Richard Holland and Robert Cozzolino: New Works April 5, 1997 at ISP World Headquarters

Experimental Sound Studios, Chicago: New Music Seminar Series April-July, 1996 organized by ISP member, Richard Holland.

The Institute for Sonic Ponderance CD Release Performance March, 1996, at ISP World Headquarters.

Richard Holland and Robert Cozzolino: New Works October, 1995 Lounge Ax, Chicago.

Myopic Book Store: Experimental Music Workshop No. 47 June, 1995 performance by ISP member of "parallel constructions" for percussion.

Project for WZRD (88.3) FM performed ten pieces - two minutes in length on the air in studio of this radio station. The pieces were composed and conceived with themes in mind on four separate hand held tape recorders and released to minor reactive accompaniment live between interviews. April 6, 1995.

Floatation Tank Accompaniment performed on site randomly May-July, 1995.

Come On Down... an opera in three acts. Libretto - transcription of The Price is Right, music improvised and partly scored. Debuted on April 1, 1995 at Bedrock's, Chicago.

Nevermind - a requiem mass for Kurt Cobain performed March 2, 1995 at Highway Roadhouse, Chicago.

Institute For Sonic Ponderance at the Children's Museum of Manhattan at Citicorp Center impromptu performance by three ISP members with accompaniment by children. New York City, January 8, 1995.

Myopic Book Store: Experimental Music Workshop No. 35 first performance contribution of ISP members to this acclaimed Chicago series. The participants played percussion items and autoharp. January 2, 1995.

The Dinner Party Show performed three improvised pieces at a happening/dinner party. Concentrated on the sensual. This was the first in a series of scheduled and recorded projects for culinary auralism. Chicago, Illinois. December 17, 1994.

The Car Wash Show performed improvised pieces at the opening of the newly inaugurated International Artist's Center Workshop, Chicago, Illinois. December 16, 1994

Institute for Sonic Ponderance Orchestra A performance of 18 musicians to benefit The Coalition for Positive Sexuality. Three improvised pieces were presented. October 15, 1994. Bedrock's, Chicago, Illinois.

String Quartet No. 1 written between July and October, 1994. Three movements, each written by a different composer.

Tribal Drum Performance Drumming accompanied an African Ball dance. August 20, 1994. Chicago, Illinois.

Live Radio Performance and Interview on WZRD (88.3) FM Performed live from our studio transmitted via teleconferencing unit, 10:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. August 18, 1994. Chicago, Illinois.

Degenerate and Outsider Art 2, July-August 1994, Fine Arts Gallery U.W. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Contributed an interactive sound sculpture to the exhibition.

Composed and performed two commissioned pieces of music to accompany Blanca Magallon in her Senior Dance Concert for Columbia College in Chicago, May 1994. The works have been performed twice in Chicago, and were scheduled to travel to Mexico in 1995.

The Institute for Sonic Ponderance Founded , January 1994. Experimental sound collective, and recording studio. Chicago, Illinois. This is the first functional branch of ISP since the 1960's.

Relevant Pre-1994 ISP Events:

Discovery of Spam, laboratory c.1936.

Birth of Babs Santini, laboratory, 1871.

NOTE: For more details on the history of our organization before the present composition, please refer to the bibliography which immediately follows.

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