Thursday 26 November 2009, 8pm
‘An edgy evening with an experimental brief that celebrates Squarepusher every bit as much as Stravinsky’ Evening Standard
‘A night where classical sounds meet electronica squiggles in a flurry of chin-stroking, knowing noodling and musical mastery’ Guardian
Blank Canvas is a night reputed for its eclectic contemporary classical and experimental music programming, which pays no heed to classical music convention.
Continuing the 2009-10 season, tonight's edition features John Matthias & Nick Ryan performing their critically acclaimed Cortical Songs for solo violin and string orchestra. 2008 World DMC Champion DJ Switch performs Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables & Orchestra on solo turntables before embarking on a collaborative and improvised musical journey with leading tuba player Oren Marshall and support comes from Tritronics; a wind trio who specialize in contemporary classical music with electronics.
Musician/ Composer John Matthias and Composer/ Sound designer Nick Ryan have worked together for 10 years. They started by ‘swapping’ a violin session by John for Nick’s production on the track ‘All the time in the world’, which became the opening track on the ‘Smalltown, Shining’ album by John Matthias, produced by Nick Ryan, which was released by Matthew Herbert’s Accidental Records in 2001.
Since then, they have collaborated on a number of projects including ‘The Fragmented Orchestra’ with Jane Grant, a huge sonic installation which won the PRS Foundation’s New Music Award 2008 (The ‘Turner Prize’ for music) and ‘Cortical Songs’ (Nonclassical Records 2008), which is released with remixes by Thom Yorke, Simon Tong, Jem Finer and many others. They have played live together many times including at the Wordless Music Series in New York City, at SXSW in Texas and at the Union Chapel in London.
National DMC DJ Battle Champion and current World Champion DJ Switch’s shows contain a repertoire of visual tricks so quick you'd think he was stuck on fast-forward and a technical prowess second to none. With appearances ranging from Blue Peter, BBC Breakfast, MTV, Radio 1 and 1Xtra, he has spun alongside and warmed up for the likes of Kano, Aquasky, DJ Kentaro, the Scratch Perverts and Pendulum, as well as a veritable tsunami of old school veterans, Q-Bert, Jazzy Jeff, Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash and Public Enemy.
Oren Marshall is a pioneering player of acoustic tuba and electric tuba who, crossing between classical, jazz, improvised and world music, has collaborated with the likes of Derek Bailey, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Moondog, The Pan-African Orchestra and the London Philharmonic.
Other highlights include performances with veteran jazz pianist John Taylor, saxophone maestro Gilad Atzmon, penny-whistle wizard Steve Buckley, percussion genius Evelyn Glennie, multi award-winning vocalist Bobby Mcferrin and Conga virtuoso Maurizio Ravalico.
Tritronics formed in 2005 whilst all three members were studying at Trinity College of Music. Individually the members are all active solo and orchestral performers, playing with the likes of the Philharmonia and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House as well as being founder members of the London Breakbeat Orchestra. Their focus on contemporary music with electronics has led to them to bring many new pieces to the repertoire of the wind trio.
