Anatomy of the Infinite Machine is an electro-acoustic piece for marimba, bass clarinet, and electronics. The composition is a reflection on the concept of time. Throughout the piece, time is dissected through an exploration of its different stages, presented in four movements: The Infinite Machine, Spectrum: Past, Present, Future, The Void, and Maelstrom. The first introduces time as an autonomous, constant being, the second considers the various phases of time, the third suggests that time is an endless vacuum, and the final movement depicts the daunting character of time when it is running out. The electronic component of the composition utilizes recorded voice and synthesizers with applied processing and effects.

- Marissa Hickman

Marissa Hickman, born in 1996, holds a bachelor’s degree in music composition with a minor in music technology from Mason Gross School of the Arts. Hickman composes chamber music, electronic works, choral and art songs, avant-garde classical music, and music for dance. In addition, she has worked on independent short films, a web series project, and a documentary. Her works have been performed by ensembles including Split the Lark, Transient Canvas, and Helix!. Hickman was a composition fellow of the Delian Academy for New Music, the Alba Music Festival, and the Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio Festival, where she won the 2018 call for scores for her piece Anatomy of the Infinite Machine. Hickman’s piece for tape and live electronics, ‘Hallucinations’ was published in Ink&Coda, an online journal for prose and music. In the summer of 2018, Hickman participated in the NYU screen scoring workshops for film, television, and video games.