Conversations with Space and Architecture (2021 - )

The core performance research team for Conversations with Space and Architecture (CSA) consists of Kalun Leung, Travis West, Kirsten Voss, and Sara Nigard Rosendal.

The original concept emerged from the mubone—a spatial performance technology and compositional approach co-created by Canadian trombonist-composer Kalun Leung and digital luthier Travis West. Since its beginnings in 2018, the mubone has continually evolved—initially conceived as a way of augmenting the trombone and interrogating its affordances when treated as an object or material rather than solely as an instrument. This inquiry led to the idea of using the trombone as a large pointing device, enabling the tracking of directional movement. In CSA, this pointing becomes a kind of digital paintbrush or spatial cursor—planting and retrieving sounds within a virtual sound field.

Kalun and Denmark-based creative producer and vocalist Kirsten Voss met during the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme (BPYAP), a year-long series of residencies led by The House of Bedlam and Larry Goves. Kirsten became one of the first artists outside Kalun to perform with the mubone, presenting an early “vision-less” iteration of CSA at the 75th Aldeburgh Festival, where she activated a Victorian barley kiln using only sound and motion, without any visual component.

Development of the visual system began shortly afterward in Montreal, at Perte de Signal, where Kalun and Travis prototyped a mobile projection mapping system capable of visually rendering sonic gestures onto architectural surfaces in real time. This system was later integrated into a new iteration of CSA in Copenhagen in 2025, through the efforts of Kirsten and her production company Tonalteatret. There, Denmark-based percussionist Sara Nigard Rosendal joined the project. The group spent several days in residence at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, culminating in a site-responsive performance at Basement, a decommissioned boiler room in Copenhagen’s west end.

Since 2025, Kalun, Travis, Kirsten, and Sara have formed the core international research team behind CSA, with members based in Canada and Denmark. Together, they continue to evolve the technology and performance practice in dialogue with each site, deepening the project’s commitment to collaboration across disciplines, geographies, and architectures.