14:00 | ABRANTES, BAILEY, LILY, RIORDAN-WATERS, SHELTON & KOZOBOLIS
2 FEB
14:00-16:00
BREWERY TAP- UCA PROJECT SPACE
Freya Lily has been championed by BBC Introducing and BBC Radio 6's Fresh on the Net. Her music explores the connection between instrumental music and emotion - working through simple repetitions and meditative chord progressions and contrasting those with complex and flowing melody.
James Riordan - Waters is an experimental pianist from Folkestone. He focuses on themes of childhood repression, existentialism, and mortality in his music.
"Inner Anthems" is a cycle of 5 piano pieces from composer Gonçalo Abrantes. "Anthems", because the main melodies have a hymnic quality with a 4 part choir-like harmony. "Inner", because they appeared from a very still and blank state of mind, as a way to find music that truly spoke to the composer without any judgement or influence from the outside. These melodies repeat with slight variations with ever-changing harmonic progressions, composed intuitively and written on paper along the way.
London based composer, producer and pianist, Olly Shelton’s compositions explore flowing forms with gradually unfolding progressions, pioneered by minimalists such as Steve Reich and Phillip Glass, framed in a modern context. Olly has also proposed a guided meditation session in the Brewery Tap. The session fuses meditative piano compositions and improvisations with a range of meditation techniques, encouraging participants to explore different ways to interact with music and the world around them, whilst cultivating a sense of clarity, calm and awareness. The music is written and performed by Olly Shelton and guided meditation and discussion with Greg Ryall.
Sam Bailey plays piano with e-bows, cappuccino whisks, vibrators, fishing wire, branches and rocks in a search to rediscover the beauty of the instrument afresh. This can sound brutal, dream-like or melodic; like an alien playing the blues.
“I found consolation and acceptance at the piano. In the piano I found respite from the demands of my body. When I pressed keys, my Tourette’s – not that I knew its name back then – would let go of me. It was as if the rhythm and the order it had always craved and enforced were channelled into the instrument I was sat in front of. Instead of jerking my head, I would move my fingers. And when I moved my fingers, I would hear music.” — Alex Kozobolis
Alex traces much of his life through patterns of transition and stabilisation. Place becomes a recurring theme in his work, with individual pieces centred around life’s many ‘characters’ – be they cities, people, or even pianos. His musical works are often focused on specific moments and memories, distilling complex emotions and experiences into rich artefacts. As attempts to make sense of life’s knottier turns, Alex’s piano works are layered with allusions, reflections, and influences. The widespread appreciation of his recordings and compositions is especially evidenced online, with his track ‘I Promise’ having gathered in excess of 20 million streams on Spotify at time of writing. Alex also has experience with scoring for screen. Outside of his musical projects, Alex is an accomplished photographer and filmmaker.He maintains a relationship between media through a focus on naturally occurring interplays between light and dark.
The order for the piano artists is:
Olly Shelton
Gonçalo Abrantes
James Riordan Waters
Freya Lily
Sam Bailey
Alex Kozobolis
