Tuesday 18 April 2023, 8pm
Atonal Kat is a new series of sonic soirees curated by Xenia Pestova and Ed Bennett. Join us for intense listening as we walk with our ears.
Xenia Pestova Bennett cultivates minute details, unpredictable processes and the gradual disappearance of sound inside a prepared piano in Annea Lockwood’s “Ear-Walking Woman”, then switches to cassettes, synths and dictaphones to launch her new album, “Atonal Electronic Chamber Music for Cats”.
Bill Thompson premieres a mysterious new work for Moog guitar, multiple pedals, plasma lights, radios and handheld fans to create an evolving sonic environment that nurtures active attention to each moment.
Described as “a powerhouse of contemporary keyboard repertoire” (Tempo), pianist and composer Xenia Pestova Bennett has earned an international reputation as a leading proponent of uncompromising music. Her work spans a wide range of sound worlds, styles and genres from classical to contemporary art music, free improvisation, experimental electronica and avant-pop.
Xenia has performed at large festivals, for live broadcast, in major concert halls, and countless weird and wonderful venues and spaces. She has commissioned and recorded dozens of new works, collaborating with major innovators in contemporary music and exploring classical music boundaries with electronics, toy pianos, synthesizers and the Magnetic Resonator Piano.
https://xeniapestovabennett.com
Bill Thompson is a sound artist and composer whose work has been performed extensively throughout the UK and abroad.
A native of Texas, he relocated to the UK in 2004 to pursue a PhD in Composition. Since then he has received numerous awards and commissions including the PRS for New Music ATOM award, the GAVAA visual arts award, a PRS for New Music Three Festival commission, the 2010 Aberdeen Visual Arts Award, and was nominated for the Paul Hamlyn Award in 2012.
As an artist, he has a particular interest in perception and embodied presence. His installations and performances frequently utilize found objects, field recordings, repurposed live electronics, and digital media to create environments that encourage active attention to each moment. He applies this same strategy within his compositional work which often include long sustained tones, densely layered textures, and indeterminate or improvised structures. He has written for a range of instruments including voice, guitar, contrabass, bagpipe, percussion, organ, string quartet, mixed ensembles and live electronics. As a solo performer he works primarily with live electronics although originally trained as a guitarist.
https://billthompson.org/
