NonZeroSum for ensemble

The title of the piece is derived from game theory and describes a scenario where players can engage in competition without there being an outright winner or loser. This concept underpins how the players in the ensemble interact. The ensemble comprises amplified string quartet and five digital instruments and the nine players work through sections entitled, Bells, Wind, Wood, Whistle, Note, ending with a return to the opening Bells. Change ringing patterns are the focus of the gaming approach and dictate many of the parameters in the piece. A number of ideas recur, designed to provide signposts to the players; these include the soft granulated bell sounds, the rapid ascending and descending patterns on strings and the fast rhythmic hocketing patterns which end each section.Four of the sections, Wind, Wood, Whistle, Note, end with improvisations where the players respond to graphic symbols drawn in real time using colour and shape coding.