Thursday 2 November 2023, 7.30pm
Mariam Rezaei / turntables
Angharad Davies / violin
Atzi Muramatsu / cello
Semay Wu / cello
"This is residency is all about new music, new partnerships, new dynamics. I admire all the musicians and they’re all very different to each other. Most significantly, they’re all composer-performer-improvisers working in multi-disciplinary contexts.
I always joke about Limp Bizkit and being the DJ in a big band, so making a group with Lukas Koenig, Mette Rasmussen and Gabriele Mitelli is both a dream and a joke come true. I’ve got a cheeky sense of humour, but I’m deadly serious about music making and finding a fun and interesting dynamic with other musicians.
Turntablism is a series of ever evolving continuums. I know and understand this, not only in my being, but in my music. Through its sensitivity and nuance, the turntable creates new timbres and unusual techniques when paired with a string ensemble. For this residency I’ll be working with violinist Angharad Davies, and cellists Atzi Muramatsu and Semay Wu. We are not going to rehearse, we are not going to talk about it, we’re just going to turn up and play.
I’m a great admirer of Edward George’s The Strangeness of Dub. For me there’s a clear affinity between dub and turntablism and I’m looking forward to exploring this together. There is a strangeness and absurdity to the turntable that is often misconstrued. More often than not, developments in music have come from unsung heroes. Perhaps sometimes those innovators don’t understand the significance of what they’ve discovered.
Ahead of the residency, I’m going to ask the musicians to send me solo recordings which I can manipulate and transform on the turntables. I’m looking to find extraordinary new sounds in real time, stretching and extending the acoustic instruments beyond their real-life capabilities. That’s what to expect from the residency." – Mariam Rezaei
Mariam Rezaei is a multi-award winning composer, turntablist and performer. She previously led experimental arts project TOPH, TUSK FRINGE and TUSK NORTH, and in November 2022, received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards For Artists in recognition of her contribution to music composition. Her music has recently been described as ‘genuinely ground-breaking’ (London Jazz News 2022) and ‘high-velocity sonic surrealism’ (4* The Guardian 2022). Recent releases include ‘BOWN’ on Heat Crimes, 'SADTITZZ' and ‘SKEEN'. Recent performances include Turntable Trio with Evicshen and Maria Chávez at Counterflows/ REWIRE 2023, and as soloist and co-composer of ‘6 Scenes for Turntables and Orchestra’ with Matt Shlomowitz for ICTUS/Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, for the final concert at IM Darmstadt 2023.
Recent collaborations include Joan La Barbara, Evicshen, Maria Chavez, Maggie Nicols, Black Top (Pat Thomas & Orphy Robinson), Lasse Marhaug, Rhodri Davies, Angharad Davies, Alya Al Sultani, Mette Rasmussen, Audrey Chen, Elaine Mitchener, Will Guthrie, Lukas Koenig, Julien Deprez, Kenosist, Gwilly Edmondez and Elvin Brandhi.
Upcoming performances include ‘Azadi/Freedom’ with London Sinfonietta at HCMF 2023; Tehran Contemporary Sound, Berlin; Another Sky, London; 6 Scenes for Turntables & Orchestra with Brussels Philharmonic/ICTUS Ensemble, Brussels, Antwerp & Glasgow; GIOFest 2023, Glasgow; Taipei Biennial 2023, Taiwan.
Angharad Davies is a Welsh violinist based in London working with free-improvisation, compositions and performance.Her approach to sound involves attentive listening and exploring beyond the sonic confines of her instrument, her classical training and performance expectation.
Much of her work involves collaboration. She has long standing duos with Tisha Mukarji, Dominic Lash and Lina Lapelyte and plays with Common Objects, Cranc and Skogen. She has been involved in projects with Tarek Atui, Tony Conrad, Richard Dawson, Gwenno, Roberta Jean, Jack McNamara, Rie Nakajima, Tim Parkinson, Eliane Radigue, Georgia Ruth and J.G.Thirlwell.
Most of her records are released on Another Timbre but she also has releases on Absinth Records, Confrontrecords, Emanem, Potlatch and winds measure recordings.Her first orchestral piece was commissioned by LCMF in 2019.
Atzi Muramatsu is a multi-disciplinary composer living in Edinburgh. His works encompass music for concerts, dance, poetry, exhibited arts and films. His music features in three BAFTA winning films including a short film The Violinist, winner of BAFTA Scotland Best Composer New Talent Award 2016. He plays in Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra and leads a contemporary string quartet Lipsync for a Lullaby.
Semay Wu (sē mā wo͞o) -she/her- works as a composer, cellist/improviser, and media/sound artist. Greatly influenced by improvisational frameworks, Semay often uses interdisciplinary relationships to explore ideas of play, through collaboration and spontaneity. Recent performances and recordings have developed as solo cello and electronics, however, Semay’s other works have found shape as video pieces, performance/interactive-installations, graphic scores, as well as creating an online audio cookbook for Manchester’s communities.
