These two pieces of music were organized for what would have been the world premier of BIRFTH ensemble in my Senior Degree Recital. The event was originally planned for a multimedia presentation in Fairchild Chapel on April 29th, 2020, my birthday. However, COVID-19 rendered the site-specific performance impossible. Instead, Gusty, part II of the BIRFTH Collection, was published to raise bail and post-release funds for protestors arrested in BLM protests in Summer 2020. The album raised over $5,000 for National Bailout Collective and COVID Bailout NYC
In the two jam-sessions that I hosted in the chapel prior to COVID-19, I was experimenting with sounds and harmonies that could be lived in and percieved through the skin. I wanted the piece to be felt in addition to being heard. In Gusty, instrumentalists were instructed to create a hocket-like texture. Within this texture, instrumentalists were invited to de-tune and re-attune to one another across the improvisation. In Musty, instrumentalists were invited to meditate on the sensation of phantom-beats made by two pitches played only a few cents apart. These works were experiments performed by a loving community of talented artists for which I am eternally grateful! May we find eachother once again. Birf’th be!
Recording/Fife/Voice/Accordion : Katarina Mazur
Marlena Gonzalez : Cello
Tigran Bunyatian : Organ
Caleb Rose : Clarinet
Clayton Luckadoo : Clarinet
Owen Frankel : Double Bass
Liam Hastings : Double Bass
