"the composer has been pushing at the boundaries of avant-garde jazz and electronica for some time now. This project, Sine Qua Non, finds Sroka unveiling a hybrid piece—part performance, part immersive, interactive installation" - Time Out, New York

Sine Qua Non is an improvisational performance that transforms into a generative sound installation. Developed at the Institute of Electronic Arts at Alfred University in New York, and the Vilnius Academy of Art - Nida Art Colony in Lithuania, it was premiered at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY in 2014, with pianist Carl Maguire.

In an improvisational dialogue the piano is sampled and processed by Sroka with Max/MSP. Maguire’s playing becomes his accompaniment and foil in something like a Mobius strip of sonic ideas, continuing through electronic abstraction and acoustic response. The sampled fragments are automatically catalogued throughout and slowly take over as the performance concludes, evolving on their own through generative processing.

With seven unique outputs of the Max/MSP instrument each mapped to a separate speaker, the room is immersed in an ever-changing abstraction of the performance, offering each listener a unique experience of the whole through their engagement with the space.

Intended as a modular work, Sine Qua Non was again realized in 2015 at the Robert Turner Gallery at Alfred University with clarientist Jeremiah Cymerman, and at Fridman Gallery in New York City with vocalist Alicia Hall Moran.