Spotlight
New Wave
| USF News
Photo by Candace Kaw | College of The Arts
There’s a new group in town. And they’re making beautiful music.
The iPad quintet, known as Touch, is comprised of School of Music faculty members David A. Williams and Clint Randles, along with graduate students Victor Ezquerra, Chris Morris and Nick Stefanic.
The strictly live-performance band is on the cutting edge of what Williams says is already taking root — the electronic musician.
“Changes in music are simply a case of evolution,” he says, pointing to instruments like the harpsichord and the lute, which were replaced based on technological advances.
A Touch concert is a multi-disciplinary experience, complete with lights, fog machines, videos on multiple screens and audience participation.
The band’s February performance in the School of Music Concert Hall included dancers, singers, actors and a painter from the College of The Arts; poets from the Department of English; the USF Sun Dolls; and local music teachers and choral directors.
“This is not a fad. It’s important for educators to recognize that what’s happening now is an important part of music culture that will be with us for some time,” Williams says. “Either we evolve with it or we make ourselves irrelevant.”