Leila Bordreuil: Episodes et Mutations

Wednesday, September 26th, ISSUE is pleased to present the world premiere of Episodes et Mutations, an immersive performance and light installation exploring perceptual intersections between sound and light by cellist, composer, sound artist, and former ISSUE Artist-In-Residence Leila Bordreuil. Commissioned by ISSUE and presented as a part of the French Institute Alliance Française’s twelfth annual Crossing the Line Festival, the piece is a unique multidisciplinary work synthesizing Bordreuil’s myriad interests and aesthetic concerns, spanning neuro-somatic imperfection, the thresholds of perception, and quiet gestures expanded and magnified through spatialization and extreme amplification.

Extending these interests into both written notation and light installation, the piece is performed by celebrated new music string quartet Mivos Quartet and features an immersive light installation by Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist Doron Sadja informed by Alexander Scriabin’s synesthetic associations among other color and sound theories.

Inspired by “auras,” or, the “evanescent cognitive atmospheres preceding altered states of consciousness," Episodes et Mutations establishes an immersive experience in which the listener’s physiological state is in constant mutation. The piece incorporates psychoacoustic and optical effects which trigger subtle hallucinations and shifts in perception, taking the audience on a singular cognitive journey.

An ISSUE Artist-In-Residence in 2011, Sadja is known for his particular style of multi-channel spatialized sound, pristine electronics, dense noise, and immersive light projections. Following previous commissioned performances alongside Raul de Nieves, Eli Keszler, and Catherine Lamb, Sadja’s light works visually mirror Bordreuil’s sustained interest in modulating between minimalist focus, extreme frequencies, and perceptual drift.

Performing Bordreuil’s composition, Mivos Quartet returns to ISSUE following an extensive history with the organization, including staged collaborations with Zs, Nate Wooley, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others. Celebrating their 10th anniversary, Mivos has been described as “fearless, precise, and forward-looking,” and is well known for its dedication to performing cutting-edge, daring works with both technical precision and emotional depth.

Leila Bordreuil is a Brooklyn-based cellist and composer working in the realm of improvisation, noise music, and sound art. She accesses concepts as diverse as jazz, contemporary classical, noise, and experimental traditions but adheres to none of them. Her work has been described by the NY times as “steadily scathing music, favoring long and corrosive atonalities.” Driven by a fierce interest in pure sound and inherent texture, Leila challenges conventional cello practice through extreme extended techniques and amplification methods. Her composed works draw from a similar aesthetic and frequently incorporate sound-spatialization by way of site-specific pieces and multichannel installations. Leila's collaborations are numerous and extremely diverse, and currently active projects include: a trio with Bill Nace and Tamio Shiraishi, a duo with sound artist Julia Santoli, an improvised string trio with Sean Ali and Joanna Mattrey, and a duo with techno producer Nick Dawson (Bookworms).

Doron Sadja is a Berlin based artist, composer, and curator whose work explores modes of perception and the experience of sound, light, and space. Often working with multi-channel spatialized sound, smoke machines, and high intensity lights, Sadja combines pristine electronics with lush romantic synthesizers, dense noise, and immersive light projections to create hyper-emotive sonic architecture. Although each of Sadja’s works are striking in their singular and focused approach, his output is diverse: spanning everything from 25 speaker sound works to stroboscopic smoke and light shows, 360 degree projection pieces, and custom built motorized speaker systems that can precisely track sound around a room. Sadja founded Shinkoyo Records and the West Nile performance space in Brooklyn (RIP), and currently runs the Sound Portraits lecture/listening series in Berlin. Sadja studied Technology in Music and Related Arts at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and received his MFA in Sound Art from Bard College.

The Mivos Quartet, “one of America’s most daring and ferocious new-music ensembles” (The Chicago Reader), is devoted to performing works of contemporary composers and presenting new music to diverse audiences. Since the quartet's beginnings in 2008 they have performed and closely collaborated with an ever-expanding group of international composers representing multiple aesthetics of contemporary classical composition. Mivos is invested in commissioning and premiering new music for string quartet, striving to work closely with composers over extended periods of time. Beyond expanding the string quartet repertoire, Mivos is also committed to working with guest artists, exploring multi-media projects involving live video and electronics, and performing improvised music.