Composer Sound Designer Interdisciplinary Artist
About
Alana (Am) DeVito is a Tiohtià:ke/Montreal-based composer, sound designer, musician, audio engineer, and interdisciplinary artist. Their career as a professional touring and studio musician spans well over 10 years, multiple countries, and numerous instruments. Their creative career has now expanded into new forms and new collaborations in research/creation, digital interactive art, film scoring, and installation work.
In A/V installation, composition, and performance, the weaving of ‘virtual kinetic’ soundscapes through vibrant, textural worlds take center stage while unique, sonic architecture project sweeping narratives. Creative computing intertwines immersive environments while blurring the line between the aural and visual sonic space.
Am DeVito has presented their compositions at the New York Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Morelia Visionas Sonoras Festival in Mexico, Berlin Off-Kultur Festival, Toronto’s Long Winter Festival, Pop Montreal, Sled Island Music Festival, Ypsigrock Festival in Sicily, and Vienna’s Freilich Open Arts Series, to name a few.
They are currently studying electroacoustic music and computation arts at Concordia University in Montreal, holding numerous merit-based scholarships and research positions; they are the 2019 recipient of the AH & LB Austin Award, the highest given in the electroacoustic program. Their research work focuses on exploring the intersections of oral history, sound installation, and experimental composition in the study and communication of gender identity, identity politics, and difficult personal histories. Their most recent academic paper is ‘Sonic Sentimentality and the Unification of the Listening Space: Exploring the Intersections of Oral History and Sonic Art’ and was published in the journal Organised Sound in August 2021 (print) and November 2021 (online).
Alana is currently open and available for all types of collaborations. Please reach out to discuss any ideas or opportunities that you may have.
@WeirdWorldNo9
Re-scoring and re-designing soundtracks on horror, sci-fi and fantasy films from the public domain.
AM DeVito
Projects and Associations
Projects
2021
"The Day I Killed Him", Short Film (Prod. Christian Hamilton), Composer
"Mapping Montreal Music", Radio CJLO, Concordia University Campus Radio, Interactive Music App. Developer and Sound Designer
“Sonic Sentimentality and the Unification of the Listening Space: Exploring the Intersections of Oral History and Sonic Art”, Research Publication, Organised Sound 26(2), 2021, Researcher/Writer
“Mistaken Realities”, Cinéma Urbain 2021, Public projection and interactive sound installation presented by VYV and Société des Arts Technologiques (the SAT), Interaction Programmer / Installation Sound Designer
"An Opus for Camouflaged Screams", Visionas Sonoras Festival, Official Selection, Morelia, Mexico, Composer/Sound Designer
"Personal Pandemic", RISE Experimental Opera Company, June, 28, 2021, Technical Director and Assistant Editor
"Trauma-Informed Composition for Installation and Community Engagement", Conference Presentation, Festival Internacional de la Imagen, Manizales, Colombia, June 7, 2021, Researcher and Presenter
Lost, Animated Short Film (Dir. Mehrnoosh Teimoory), Composer/Sound Designer
Witches / Sorcières, Animated Short Film (Dir. Lisa Bounouh), Composer/Sound Designer
2020
The Living Composition, Virtual Interactive Sound Installation, Visionas Sonoras Festival, Official Selection, Morelia, Mexico, Composer/Sound Designer/Programmer/Artist
2 in a Boat, Animated Short Film (Dir. Yekaterina Kobtseva), Composer/Sound Designer
Bias in the Room, Animated Short Film (Dir. Anaïs de Kerorguen), Composer/Sound Designer
Emotional Resilience While Performing Traumatic Narratives: Part II,
L’Archipel Nocturne (Composer, Andrea Young),
Performance for voice and electronics, Digital Artist (Interactive projections)
Vacillations, Creative audiovisual composition and performance, Artist/Composer
Electroacoustic Sonata in 330 Hz, Multichannel fixed media composition, Composer/Programmer
2019
Something Else, short animated film - Ottawa Film Festival Official Selection, Composer
Culver, Montreal Fringe Festival, Sound Designer/Composer
Show Me<>Show You, XX Files: Intimacy & Desire (sound installation) @ Pop Montreal, Composer
Theme for a Troubled Mind, 60x60 Concordia University, Composer
Apathy, Concordia University Theatre Department, Sound Designer/Composer
Alea, Long Winter Festival, Sound Installation, Artist/Performer/Composer
Alvin’s Apartment, Graduate Student Final Project, Dir. Andrea Diaz, VR Sound Designer & Mixing Engineer
2016 – 2018
Bobbypin, Sketches from a Terrace (record and tours), Producer/Musician
Bobbypin, Experiments off a Cliff (record and tours), Producer/Musician
2015
TOPS, Picture You Staring (tours), Musician (bass, back-up vocals)
Associations
Research Assistant, Sound Designer and Audio Engineer, RISE Opera, Supervisor: Dr. Eldad Tsabary, Concordia University, 2020 - current
Sound Designer & Research Assistant, The Acts of Listening Lab at the Center for Oral History & Digital Storytelling, Concordia University, Supervisor: Dr. Luis Sotelo Castro, 2019 - current
Chair of the Board of Directors, Art Matters Festival, Concordia University, 2019 - 2020
Sound Engineer, La Sotterenea and Casa Del Popolo Music Venues, Montreal, Quebec, 2018 - 2020
President, Concordia Electroacoustic Studies Student Association, Concordia University, 2018 - 2020
Education
Concordia University, Major in Electroacoustic Studies, Minor in Computation Arts
Awards
Alexandra Olsen Memorial Award, Concordia University, 2020 & 2021
Eric Award in Electroacoustics, Concordia University, 2020
Association of Alumni of Sir George Williams University Inc. Scholarship, Concordia University, 2020
Elspeth McConnell Fine Arts Award, Concordia University, 2019
AH and FB Award in Electroacoustics, Concordia University, 2019