While there is no stereotypical member of Contrapunkt, Cornell’s main outlet for undergraduate composition, Zach Romeo ’10 seems to embody the group strengths. As the group likes to stress, he is an engineer — which should be an anomaly in a group of music majors. However, it isn’t, as Contrapunkt boasts several engineers as well as members from other non-musical majors such as the AEM program. His pieces for piano draw heavily on improvisation, solely because Romeo likes to improvise. Most importantly, Contrapunkt’s upcoming free concert at Barnes Hall this Sunday is Romeo’s first public appearance with his work. Contrapunkt has given him the opportunity to showcase his original work for the first time during his Cornell career.

Along with Romeo, an array Contrapunkt’s broad talents and styles will be highlighted this Sunday. “The best way to define us would be that there isn’t much music cohesion,” said Greg Weisbrod ’11, the group’s vice president. “Our concerts run the gamut of music diversity, with classical music followed by a piece that’s more improvised.” According to club president, Julia Adolphe ’10, Sunday’s concert will be another leap forward for Contrapunkt, featuring more electronic music and improvisation then any concert before, along with a 16-person piece that Adolphe is staging herself.

For Contrapunkt, bigger is better. The group has steadily grown in numbers since its inception three years ago, becoming more diverse in interests and backgrounds. Members unanimously agree that Contrapuntk’s expansion in both size and interests can only be beneficial for the group. While Adolphe says that 50 percent of pieces performed by the group are done on piano, she is quick to point out that the other half have included works composed on a Gameboy and improvised on the oud, a Middle Eastern string instrument.

Among the new pieces for Sunday’s concert will be Weisbrod’s composition for the English horn, which uses electronics to generate a harmony from the instrument’s melody line to vertical sounds from horizontals. Additionally, Weisbrod will add “spatialization” by staging speakers in the front and the back of the horn, which increases its perceived size and the direction of the sound through electronics. As if that wasn’t enough, Weisbrod will perform the whole thing live, “with the English horn in one hand and my laptop in the other,” he said.

Members attribute much of this creative outburst to an increased focus during meetings. “Our meetings this year have been more focused on members presenting original music,” said Liza Sobel ’12. While in the past, members have spent meetings listening to and discussing contemporary composers, many student composers are now bringing in their original pieces to show and find potential musicians to help their works. Additionally, members come together in a specialized composition class the music department has set up taught by faculty member Kevin Ernste, the director of the Cornell Electroacoustic Music Center and Contrapunkt’s advisor. In this class, students have to write an orchestration for a different family of instruments, from cello to voice. The final project is to write a piano piece for one of the performance groups on campus.

While the group’s performances so far have been in traditional venues like Barnes Hall or Lincoln Hall, Adolphe says that Contrapunkt is looking to alternative places to stage their concerts, adding more opportunities to showcase and publicize student work. Recently, one member did a solo trumpet performance on Ho Plaza to attract publicity for the group. As Contrapunkt members recounted, he started on the steps of Willard Straight Hall and staggered down the steps dramatically, all while blaring his trumpet. By the time the piece ended, he was almost at the Cornell Store, spread out on the pavement wriggling on his stomach.

With all the range in sounds and styles, you’re sure to find something you’ll like this Sunday, which is exactly what Contrapunkt hopes for, “We do want to appeal to a wide audience,” Adolphe said. “People who are completely not involved with music, we want them to come out and enjoy our concerts.”

Contrapunkt will be showcasing new works at Barnes Hall on Nov. 8 at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free.