At musical performances, if boredom sets in, the listener faces a limited palette of acceptable recourse. Should she interdigitate through the interminable aria, fix her gaze upon the slumping violinist in the back desk, or—the path of least resistance—simply fall asleep? For some time, when beset with concert boredom himself, the Norwegian contemporary composer Øyvind Torvund has had a remedy at the ready: dreaming up alternatives to what might be happening on stage. Could a flock of angels eavesdrop at an EDM concert, miming the roaring beats in their own dulcet tones? What if a troupe of xylophone players took flight in the forest, dodging birds while a pianist down below echoed their phrases? Would society survive a woodwind duo set loose in a parking lot, kicking cars to activate their alarms, then tooting along with what they hear?
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