Maria Siskova’s life is steeped in music. The 24-year-old singer, sound designer, composer, and researcher has an impressive catalog of compositions and has recently turned her sights to the emerging field of “gesturally controlled music” which uses digital instruments to allow musicians to create and control sounds through dance movements. Grant money from Hunter’s Fund will allow Siskova to continue her research and expand her work as a producer and performer in the emerging field of gesturally controlled music.

“This concept came from my internal desire to transform my music into a live interactive and immersive performance,” Siskova says. “In my new surround performance set-up, the body triggers, controls, and navigates sound around the audience. With the movement of my hand, I can augment, harmonize, distort and manipulate my voice in any possible way you can imagine.”