Mise en Abyme
Compilations of Cooperations
April 20th 2026
8:00 PM
The Intermedia Performance Art Course
The Intermedia Performance Art Class, situated in the College of Music, Division of Composition Studies is an interdisciplinary workshop that utilize collaborative techniques to produce thought provoking, media rich performances and immersive experiences. The Intermedia project is an opportunity for multiple creative centers, colleges and departments housed at both UNT and TWU to come together to create transdisciplinary works enjoyed by a supportive community audience. The project steps outside the usual nature of the concert hall, film screening or exhibition venue and imagines new modalities for the presentation art forms. Previous events have included large scale installation environments, machinima performances, virtual world building, electro-acoustic operas and live cinema works to name but a few.
Director's Note
The intermedia production of Mise en Abyme was the result of a three-month collaborative effort in the Intermedia Performance Art course. Together we utilized a wide mix of traditional forms and emerging technological possibilities to create a series of works exploring notions of Unity / Disunity.
The participating artists were encouraged to consider various approaches to merging or layering of media concepts and meanings to produce compelling experiences that could be, deeply personal, culturally relevant, globally situated and potentially universal.
The Minds of Unity
Stephanie Jantzen
Stephanie Jantzen is a composer, performer, and multimedia artist whose work encompasses new chamber music, experimental sound design, and installation art (and any mix of the three). She is currently pursuing a BA in Music and Electronics at the UNT College of Music.
I created the live performance system for INTERPRETER, using TouchDesigner for hand-tracking and gesture recognition, and MaxMSP to translate the raw data from TD into responsive musical “signs.” I’m proud of all the risks I took by stepping into such an ambitious role, and I’m left feeling very inspired for future projects to come.
Ruthy Erez
I'm a documentary filmmaker and MFA graduate student at the University of North Texas. I am originally from Israel and currently based in Texas. My work explores identity, longing and the emotional textures of everyday life as well as the funny aspects of life.
Just like a beauty pageant queen,
My mission is to promote democracy and world peace.
I oppose complacency!
Clay Barnwell
Clay Barnwell is an experienced storyteller, documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, editor, cinematographer, intermedia performance artist, and painter living in Corinth, TX. In addition to documentary filmmaking, Clay has created short narrative films and live performance art pieces focusing on creative, abstract, and unconventional work, influenced by artists like Zdzislaw Beksinski and Vincent Gallo. After receiving his BA in Media Arts Studies from the University of North Texas in 2021, Clay was accepted into the Documentary Production Studies MFA program at UNT in 2024, where he has focused on telling stories about unique artists and lesser-known individuals living fascinating lives in the North Texas area.
Gracie May
Gracie is a Denton based artist who works mainly with video and installation work. Gracie believes in the power of play, being freely creative and experimental. They use their artwork as an outlet to express herself. She will take their knot of woes and use it as fuel to create a work that not only is for them but for others who may find solace in an artwork that reflects themselves.
McKinley Argyle
McKinley Argyle is a documentary director and cinematographer based in Denton, Texas, whose work explores stories of counterculture and community. She leverages the power of documentary filmmaking to bring complex stories and vital knowledge into the public eye, compelling viewers to think critically and engage with the world beyond the mainstream.
David Stout
David Stout is a visual and sonic artist, performer and film maker exploring the synthesis of new forms across the arts. He is recognized for works in cinema, installation and intermedia environments integrating immersive projection as an extension of performer, audience, and architecture. He is cofounder of the seminal interactive media ensemble, NoiseFold, whose multi-screen installations, sound works, and performances have toured worldwide. He celebrates four decades as an interdisciplinary educator and director of collaborative intermedia arts, film projects, performance and music events. His former students lead professional lives as visual artists, directors, documentary filmmakers, film editors, animators, composers, recording artists, sound designers, touring performers, programmers, media artists, educators, activists, producers, and more.
Atsunobu Takemoto
A Japanese new media artist. Through studying abroad in diverse cultural contexts such as the United States and Germany, he engages with a wide range of perspectives and continually approaches both himself and the world from multiple viewpoints. Working primarily with video, photography, installation, and generative AI, his practice explores how human existence becomes unstable and selectively perceived within contemporary information society, urban environments, and the rapid advancement of technology. In his work, he presents social structures from a certain distance, deliberately avoiding clear answers in order to evoke a sense of discomfort and inquiry in the viewer. His work invites viewers to reconsider their own position and relationship to others within these structures
George McGuinness
George McGuinness (b. 2000) is a composer, visual artists, mathematician, and multi-instrumentalist from Spokane, Washington. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Music Composition from the University of North Texas. George's work often focuses on his interdisciplinary interests and never ending search for new, experimental modes of artisitc expressions.
Kahan Taraporevala
Kahan Taraporevala is an award-winning composer, a producer, and an educator. Born in 1999 and growing up in Mumbai and Singapore, he studied the piano from age five. Striving to bring people together through the transformative power of music, Kahan's compositions aim to engender meaningful conversations that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries.
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Kahan's works have been performed by choirs and ensembles in the United States, Canada, and India. Kahan has a BM in Music Composition (Founders Scholar) with a Minor in Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (2022) and an MM in Music Composition from the University of North Texas (UNT) College of Music (2024). He is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at UNT.
Bianca Sanchez
Bianca Bisej is an American multimedia artist who is particularly interested in creation through intuition. Mostly focusing on topics of the mundane, sex, and all things stupid, they think, create, and perform conceptually to form something that’s fulfilling to her and the material he’s working with. Whether that material be steel, video, latex, or their own body, she attempts to communicate with and understand it in whatever way he can. Bianca is currently pursuing a degree in sculpture at the University of North Texas, where they plan to graduate in the fall of 2026
Luca Buongiorno Nardelli
DFW based violinist Luca Buongiorno Nardelli is a performer and recording artist whose work spans across punk, rock, pop, classical, contemporary, and jazz music. A graduate student in Ethnomusicology at the University of North Texas, Luca holds dual bachelor's degrees in music and physics from UNT. His research interests focus on cultural revitalization programs, community organizing, and multi-musical expressions of identity, while his current creative projects explore improvisation, intermedia, and interdisciplinary approaches to music.
Colin Stokes
Colin Stokes is a cellist, composer, music and media technologist, and researcher focused on artificial intelligence in computer media systems design. Colin completed his PhD in 2026 at The University of North Texas, where he worked with Jon Nelson, Marco Buongiorno Nardelli, David Stout, and Panayiotis Kokoras. He also holds degrees in cello performance from The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music. As a cellist, Colin tours actively with the Berlin-based electronic group Symphoniacs. His music can be heard on more than 25 albums released by Universal Music/Polydor, Warner Music Japan, EMI, Neuma Records, and others. He has shared the stage with performers ranging from Yo-Yo Ma, Gidon Kremer, and John Williams, to Lady Gaga, Chaka Khan and Heidi Klum and his performances, broadcasts, and streams have been seen and heard by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Yoonjae Choi
Yoonjae Choi is a composer whose work explores the musical applications of extended acoustic techniques and spectral sound materials drawn from both instrumental and non-instrumental sources. His compositional works include live electronics and soundscapes, incorporating computer technologies and software while frequently collaborating with media artists and the experimental music scene.
His music and research have been presented at international conferences and festivals, including ICMC, ACMC, SEAMUS, NYCEMF, DICMF in Daegu, WOCMAT Conference in Taiwan, PMF at Indiana, and Electronic Music Midwest.
He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in composition at the University of North Texas, studying with Panayiotis Kokoras.
Hanna Le
Hanna Le (b. 2005) is a percussionist from Ventura, California. She is now a third year undergraduate student at the University of North Texas where she is pursuing her percussion performance degree. Along with pursuing her degree at University of North Texas, Hanna is a teacher at the New Song School of the Arts where she teaches drumset, piano, and marimba.
Jake Vinton
Jake Vinton is a experienced Broadcast Engineer in Dallas TX. He is studying Converged Broadcast Media from the University of North Texas in the Media Arts department. He has extensive experience working on theatrical shows, live broadcasts, sports broadcasts. Learning new things and figuring out how to make the show better is something Jake is always doing. He enjoyed learning all the new and different technology in the MEIT and working with partners with different skill sets to put together this final show.
Isaac Martin
Isaac Martin is a contemporary composer, sound artist, and visual artist currently pursuing a music composition degree with a proficiency in electronics. Isaac’s style could be described as fusing popular and underground forms of contemporary vernacular music with the techniques and approaches from the Academic.
William Bender
William Bender is a Texas-based guitarist, bassist, and composer of acoustic and electronic music. His music has been presented at the MOXSonic and LATEX festivals, as well as performances from the Merz Trio. He regularly performs as a guitarist and bassist for various genres around the state, mostly in the DFW and Austin area. His music focuses on the natural world, meditation, and listening on a deeper, more intense level, utilizing extreme length and stasis.
The Show
The Production Team
Production Team
Artistic Director / Producer
Co-Producer / Technical Director
Systems Operators
Stage Crew & Ushers
Documentation Team
Video
Photography
Event Promotion
Program Editors
Flyer & Poster design
Website Design
Lead Design
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David Stout
Colin Stokes
Benjamin Shirey, Connor Scroggins, Jake Vinton, Joonjae Choi
Intermedia Students
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Clay Barnwell
Stephen Lucas
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Luca Buongiorno Nardelli
McKinley Argyle
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Jake Vinton
Special Thanks to the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI), Initiative for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts (iARTA), the entire CEMI staff, Dr. Panayiotis Kokoras, Dr. Stephen Lucas, and The Division of Composition Faculty.