belfast kommt

a few more sleeps until i go to ISEA 2009.  i will, as i have mentioned, be presenting a new video, the white dog, and will be performing my shruti audiovisual project on aug 27 around 9pm.  please drop by if you get a chance—coincidentally my friends from autorickshaw will be in belfast at the same time.  expect a big toronto reunion at the nearest pub afterwards—i haven’t seen any of them in over a year.

soon after returning, i will be doing the harmonium audiovisual project at the toronto portion of the international indian electronica festival.  september 4 is the date, and rolly’s garage is the place.  9pm start, cover tba (check the website).  i look forward to doing this project here in toronto.  some new surprises are in store for this performance, including the excellent reading of text i wrote, courtesy of berlin electronica star robert lippok, who incidentally has a great voice.

sept 19 has my visual work as part of the next bird project concert.  this ensemble of flutes, voice, piano, poetry, electroacoustic sound and video is still going strong, and we are well into our season.  unfortunately i won’t be there to do live visuals, as i will be on a plane to spain to present my new work kailash, the winner of the CDMC/Ars Sonora prize.  the piece will be premiered at the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Alicante, and i am really thrilled to be going there to present.

finally, peggy baker and i will be presenting the dance/audiovisual installation project move @ nuit blanche toronto on october 3rd (7pm to sunrise).  24 dancers and a great band—myself, ben grossman, and phil strong.

hope to see you there.  somewhere.

radio/CD

the spanish radio piece i spoke about in an earlier post is nearing completion.  my liason for the project is miguel alvarez fernandez, who translated the text i wrote into spanish and recorded the fantastic reading of it by radio clasicá personality gregorio parra.  things sound sooooo much better in spanish.

i am also in the happy position of having 2 options for releasing the new CD.  discussions are ongoing, but expect a late 2009 release as CD and on bandcamp.

i will be in residence as peggy baker’s accompanist this summer for various classes at the national ballet school, as well as for her yearly teacher’s seminar.  playing the drums will be nice—it always is with the inimitable ms. baker.

not to mention the little hurricane that is our daughter leena.

barely

able to stay awake, let alone do any  work.  just returned from india, with our new daughter leena.  as of this writing we have been  home 72 hours.

bliss.

more international: spanish national radio

just found out i am the winner of the XVI radio creation works contest, administered by radio clasica (spanish national radio) and ars sonora.  this is a major prize, and i am really honoured and very flattered to have been chosen.  i will be creating  a new long form radio piece called “kailash”.  the work will be debuted at the international festival of contemporary music of alicante in late sept 2009.

thanks to the jury and to senor miguel alvarez-fernandez for awarding me such a high honour.

international / Peggy Baker / Lippok

wow, has it been a month?

work continues on the new peggy baker dance project.  the choreography is amazing, and the whole project is really growing into something amazing (read peggy’s journal entry for April 27 here).  the final project will be about an hour long—quite a bit of music/sound and i am having a great time working with peggy and the dancers.  there will also be a duet choreographed by new york city’s own doug varone as part of the program.  i’m very honoured to be creating music for so many great people.

i am thrilled to have been invited to ISEA this year as part of the juried exhibition with a new video work, based on the performance project shruti which i have written about here before.  we are hoping to also arrange a performance of the project as well, and this will be the first time i have made a fixed video work expressly based on the shruti project.

i have also been invited to the re-new festival in copenhagen, and the ex-is festival in seoul to do AV performances, but funding being what it is i am unable to attend.  if you find yourself in these neighborhoods, do give them your patronage.

robert lippok, my friend and cohort, has agreed to record some text for a new audio piece that i am calling the bodhi tree.  he did a fantastic job, and his voice and delivery is spot on and exactly what i had hoped for.  stay tuned for further info on that project.  we are hoping to record this june here in toronto…there are some happy glitches that may not be able to be worked around though.  we’ll see how it goes.

all this and more!  coming this summer to a screen in front of you.

T(X)MC @ Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre

i will be doing the first ever performance of my all night solo performance project, the (x) music conference, @ modern fuel artist run centre in kingston, ON.  details below.

if you are in the kingston area, please do come along.  i look forward to the effect that performing all night will have on the output…

Debashis Sinha: The (X) Music Conference
Solo concert, 11pm March 7 – 7am, March 8
@ Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre, 21A Queen St, Kingston
Part of Wind From the East—drawing installations of Montreal-based artists Jing Yuan Huang and Jerry Ropson

The (X) Music Conference (in this case, The Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre Music Conference), is a solo performance/social installation using traditional percussion instruments, electronics, visual projections, and tea, lasting from 11pm to 7am.  This project mirrors the tradition of all night music performances prevalent in the classical South Asian musical traditions, a practice not as prevalent as it once was.  TXMC recontextualizes the focus and
mindfulness required of the classical south Asian musician, using the form of the classical music performance, and filling it with content derived from Sinha’s own creative practice. The centuries old traditions of south Asian music are invoked through the structure of the concert and social gathering (which is part andparcel of any concert experience there), and the deeper traditions of mindfulness, focus, and improvisation are applied to modern and traditional musical tools and strategies of performance.

This will be Sinha’s first iteration of this project.  Provisions have been made for audience members are welcome to stay for the duration of the performance.
For more information on the exhibition, please see http://www.modernfuel.org/art/programming/event/272