What are you looking at?

2008 Events

Feb. 1st, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Canterbury House
721 East Huron Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tickets - $10/$5 students

Feb. 2nd, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
(SCENE) Metrospace
110 Charles Street
East Lansing, Michigan
Tickets - $5 at the door

Feb. 3rd, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Dreamland Theater
26 N. Washington St.
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Tickets - $5 at the door

Feb. 4th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
ARRAY Studios
60 Atlantic Ave., STE. 218
Toronto, Ontario
Tickets - $5 at the door

Feb. 5th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Club SAW
67 Nicholas Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Tickets - $5 at the door

Feb. 27th, 2008 @ 8:00 P.M.
Oberlin College
173 West Lorain Street
Oberlin, Ohio
Tickets - Free

Mar. 9th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
MonkeyTown
58 North 3rd Street
Brooklyn, New York
Tickets - $10 at door

Mar. 20th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
The Lighthouse
1421 Buchanan Street
Washington D.C.
Tickets - $5 at the door

April 26th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
CCRMA Concert Series
660 Lomita Drive
Stanford, California
Tickets - Free

April 29th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Climate Theater
285 9th Street
San Francisco, California
Tickets - $15/$10

Apr. 30th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Gassmann Music Series
University of California
Irvine, California
Tickets - Free

May 7th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Super Happy Fun Land
3801 Polk Street
Houston, Texas
Tickets - $7 at the door

May 24th, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Artomatic
1200 First Street, NE
Washington, D.C.
Tickets - Free

May 31st, 2008 @ 8 P.M.
Heaven Gallery
1550 North Milwaukee
Chicago, Illinois
Tickets - TBA

WELCOME

Thanks for stopping by!

MISSION STATEMENT

What are you looking at? is the fusion of saxophone, film and electronic media into an evening length multimedia event. This interdisciplinary performance project has teamed together a collective of forward thinking composers and visual artists from the United States and abroad. Through the combination of new technology with contemporary classical and free improvisational forms, this event continues to challenge and excite a wide variety of audiences. Through constant travel and performance I have presented this music in cities throughout the US including New York City, Ann Arbor, Greensboro, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cambridge, Charlottesville and New Orleans. What are you looking at? is yielding a new body of music and film that will continue to grow and gain recognition as performance opportunities arise. I am always looking for new venues and music festivals (see booking) willing to program this truly new and exciting concert going experience.

Live video stills from a performance of What are you looking at?

ABOUT THE PERFORMER

Saxophonist Michael Straus' (b. 1983, New Orleans) abilities and dedication to the performance of new music have led to a variety of engagements at venues ranging from Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center and New York City's The Stone to Italy's Festival Internazionale del Sassofono. His strong commitment to today's music, coupled with his close work alongside composers has resulted in over twenty new compositions by both emerging and established composers Halim El-Dabh, Matthew Burtner, Peter V. Swendsen, Per Bloland, Vitor Rua and Liduino Pitombeira among several others. Recent premieres include everything from large chamber works to solo compositions incorporating multi-channel audio and film projection.

Michael's main artistic focus lies in the solo multimedia performance project What are you looking at? This interdisciplinary project has teamed together a collective of forward thinking composers and visual artists from the United States and abroad. Through the combination of new media and technology with contemporary classical and free improvisational forms, this event continues to challenge and excite a wide variety of audiences. Through constant travel and performance he has presented this music in cities throughout the US including New York City, Ann Arbor, Greensboro, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cambridge, Charlottesville and New Orleans.

Michael is also regularly involved in a variety of chamber music activities. His strong interest in electronic music recently led to the founding of Sonic Circus, an electroacoustic duo with bassoonist Dana Jessen. Dedicated to the performance, promotion and expansion of this medium, Sonic Circus recently teamed up with turntablist DJ Dubble8 and electronic musician Katarina Miljkovic for a four-day, three-venue tour of New England. With stops at New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce College, Cambridge's Lilypad and the Boston Cyberarts Festival @ NEC, Sonic Circus is quickly garnering attention. Michael's acoustic chamber music efforts lie in the saxophone quartet quux. With fellow members Dale Underwood, Sheri Oyan and Ed Fraedrich, quux recently performed at the International Navy Band Symposium and served as ensemble in residence at Northwestern State University.

As a frequent composer of electroacoustic music, Michael's compositions have been heard throughout the United States and Canada. His numerous recordings as a saxophonist, didgeridoo player and composer can be heard on SEAMUS, New Tertian and The Walter's Art Museum record labels.

Michael is an Enrico Di Giovanni Scholarship Recipient and winner of several other accolades including two Helen Gold and Derryl Haymon Scholarships and a Peabody Career Development Grant. He holds Master's degrees in saxophone performance and computer music from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor's degree in saxophone performance from Louisiana State University. His teachers have included Ed Fraedrich, Gary Louie, Griffin Campbell, Brian McWhorter and McGregor Boyle.