NAT 28 NEW MUSIC

Iran-born composer Ramin Akhavijou is a graduate composition student of Carnegie Mellon University where he is currently working on microtonal sounds. The dialectic interrelation between sounds has always been one of the main concerns and motives for his compositions and research works, according to which he is investigating, scientifically, the sound of nature in an interdisciplinary project in order to translate some non-musical elements into music.

He has received several awards for his compositions including the Iranian Music Association (Tehran, Iran, 2013 & 2015), ACIMC (Paris, France, 2014), IMHM (London, England, 2014), ConTempora (Skopje, Macedonia, 2015), Orient/Occident (Lviv, Ukraine, 2015), ABLAZE Records (Cincinnati, USA, 2016), Bruno Maderna (Lviv, Ukraine, 2016).

NAT 28 will perform his work "Miniature Sounds (Quintet No. 3)" for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin and piano.

Brian Riordan is a composer, performer, improviser, producer, and sound artist originally from Chicago, IL. He is currently an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow and a PhD candidate in Music Composition and Theory at University of Pittsburgh, where he pursues interests in delay-based performance, real-time digital signal processing, and laptop performance aesthetics. Riordan comes from a very diverse musical background and creates music that reflects the eclecticism that he has experienced. He has also studied folkloric drumming in Havana Cuba, and Morelia Mexico. As an avid collaborator, he has performed in numerous ensembles ranging from rock, jazz, classical, and experimental throughout the United States. His compositions have been performed by The JACK Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, The Meridian Arts Ensemble, Kamraton, The H2 Quartet, Alia Musica, Wolftrap, and his compositions have been featured at STEIM, SICPP, New Music On The Point, SPLICE, and The Walden Creative Musicians Retreat. 

Visit Brian's website: www.brianriordanmusic.com

Program note:
 

K. was Composed for the 2015 New Music On The Point Festival. It’s about a bureaucratic stalemate.

Chatori Shimizu (b. 1990) is a Pittsburgh based composer, shō performer, and sound artist, who constructs his works for a wide range of mediums concerning sound and space. Ranging from orchestral works to sound installations, all of his works engage in repetitive patterns of sound motifs, which aims for the slightest change in the pattern or a silence to act as an accent. As the First Prize Winner of Malta International Composition Competition, Shimizu's works have been performed and exhibited throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and Europe. He has been awarded fellowships from Columbia University School of the Arts, Institute of Medieval Japanese Studies, the Mitsubishi Foundation, Omi International Arts Center, Soundstreams, Toshiba Foundation, Yaddo, among others, and his music scores are published from United Music & Media Publishing, Belgium. Shimizu obtained his MFA in Sound Arts from Columbia University, New York City, and received his BA in Computer Music from Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, as a recipient of the Arima Prize; the highest honor bestowed upon the graduating class. He is currently a doctoral candidate in composition and theory at the University of Pittsburgh.

Visit Chatori's website: www.chatorishimizu.com
 

Program Note

Being a Hermit tries to promote a new insight on the introverts’ minds. In Western cultures, quietness is often times associated with negative connotations such as awkwardness, gloominess, repression, and in some cases, lifelessness. But I believe that a quiet character of one can be carefully carved out to mold a unique and clear voice. This is what is sounding in my mind.