April leaves newsletter: gigs in the next week and some thoughts |
My dear friends, Since the last time I wrote to you, I’ve been busy finishing off some music, procrastinating on writing some, and in the deep valley of talking about music. There are some excellent conversations of recent that have changed my perspective on the internal machinery of the music I make as well as making me reckon with the motivations behind the individual decisions in my music. Some of these conversations have come from going to gigs, and others from reflecting on those I’ve played. I think it will take me some time to process these thoughts. There has been a lot of amazing music that I’ve heard in the past two weeks and the enormity of the shift I feel necessarily requires the extra time to brew. I’ve been delighted by the warm words from some of you who read these newsletters recently. Since the last one, I’ve had the chance to talk about this format with some of you and it’s really encouraging to know that this format of writing, which is one of my favourites, has a positive place with my friends. Recently, I've found myself connecting with musicians from a range of paths and being in different musical communities as a really rich and rewarding experience. The ways we make work individual practices has so mush that does and doesn't translate across to others, and it's fascinating to me to find points of connection between what I do and that of others in unexpected places. It has an interesting emotional impact on how we make the kind of art that we want to make. It feels like a strange time right now, that unlike my usual pace of making work, there is an intensity to a compacted series of creative developments, which are requiring a different kind of mental presence. It feels good right now, in a form that's trusting individual small choices in a day, and taking as material and practice, the inspiring encounters of musical moments. The blurring of the music/not music space in a whole life can be hard sometimes but is really enriching right now. Here is some info I have got to share about the next fun week of gigs!
A few bits and bobs:
I’m off to the States and Mexico in May and early June. I’ll be doing a few gigs while I’m there: Palo Alto, CA: CCRMA Live: 6-7 pm + 7:30 performance on the 12th of May. I’ll be playing from the debut Floors-Iran album, Ocean, Again. Links here and here Boston, MA: I’m presenting a paper about the performance of two pieces by Cat Hope, adapted for Floors, double bass and bass flute, at the TENOR conference in Boston, and performing my 502 Days piece (co-creating with Dan Pitman) in a new iteration there. Following, I’ll be in Atlanta to work on on some fun projects with beautiful friends from the Guthman time, and who knows, maybe doing a bit of playing! Mexico City: NIME in early June will be the debut of a new duo piece with Chloe Sobek, entitled Flightless Path, which we’ll be performing as the closing act in the NIME conference this year. This performance and our presentation about playing large inconvenient instruments is going to be a super fun time. There will be some other work presented while in Mexico City, from Knock Mark Stitch and the new duo! I’ll be doing the launch shows for the solo album in September and will be back to you with gig dates soon x I hope you’re all well in the shift over into winter or summer. I listened to some beautiful music this week to help that transition and pivot. Love, Iran |
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I'm a composer and improvising performer. I keep in touch via this newsletter, where I share work, thoughts and updates.
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