This piece explores how stochastic and aleatoric techniques introduced by Iannis Xenakis can be combined with classical music theory, modern mathematics / fractal geometry, and modern technology / smartphones. It was presented in the context of the Meta-Xenakis transcontinental celebration, at the Music Library of Greece, in May 2022.

“on the Fractal Nature of Being…” is constructed using a harmonic theme interwoven into a fractal. Audience members participate with their smartphones, using their speakers and accelerometers to control aspects of the performance. The harmonic theme is first introduced, and then repeated by different instruments (with Yiannis Bafaloukas on piano, Daniel Brown on cello, and Devon Wyland on bassoon), at different levels of granularity – creating space for the fractal to unfold. A probability density function controls the interplay between consonance and dissonance – this is a meta-Xenakian idea, as Xenakis mainly focused on the probabilities between sounds and silence.