Unlikely Couplings: Miya Masaoka & Anthony Coleman, Margarida Garcia & Elliott Sharp

Sat 27 May, 2006, 8pm
Old American Can Factory

Miya Masaoka, musician, composer, sound artist, has created works for koto, laser interfaces, field recordings, laptop and video and written scores for ensembles, chamber orchestras and mixed choirs. In her pieces she has investigated the sound and movement of insects, as well as the physiological response of plants, the human brain and her own body. Within these varied contexts her performance work investigates the interactive, collaborative aspects of sound, improvisation, nature and society.

Composer-keyboardist Anthony Coleman performs, records, and inspires throughout the world. Whether as a bandleader, as sideman, or solo pianist, the work of Anthony Coleman forms an important contribution and has helped to shape and influence the course of New York’s Downtown Music scene over the last two decades. He is noted among the key luminaries of Free Improvisation, and his interest in Eastern European musical traditions helped to create what is now known as Radical Jewish Culture.

Margarida Garcia explores a language based on the use of the bow and finger in an accidental and erratic music. She has collaborated with musicians like Eddie Prevost, Carlos Giffoni, Barry Weisblat, Manuel Mota, Rhodri Davies and Mattin and the Tower Recordings.

Composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer Elliott Sharp leads the groups Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane. His collaborators have included qawaali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, playwright Dael Orlandersmith, cello innovator Frances-Marie Uitti, sci-fi writers Jack Womack and Lucius Shepard; blues legend Hubert Sumlin; turntablists DJ Soulslinger and Christian Marclay; and Bachir Attar, leader of the Master Musicians of Jahjoukah.