8pm Peter Whitehead - invented instruments
9pm
Nadia Shihab - voice, strings & electronics
Peter Whitehead is a composer, songwriter and instrument builder. His instrument building grew out of his earlier work with sculpture made from found materials and a fascination with sound which began in childhood.
While traveling in S.E. Asia in 1989 he realized he could combine sculpture, performance and music by constructing and playing original instruments. Having experimented with playing ‘found’ objects before this, it was at this time that he began to construct his first instruments. Many of his creations are derived from folk instruments from around the world and some are based on images of ancient instruments that no longer exist, although the materials used to construct them are modern or industrial.
Whitehead has composed songs and scores for film and dance using a variety of instruments ranging from found to invented to conventional. In recent years this palette has been expanded to include electronics and samples of found or invented instruments.
He has also composed for and performed with a number of prominent choreographers and dancers including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Susan Marshall & Company, Anna Halprin, Charles Moulton/Janice Garrett and Sarah Shelton Mann. His work has appeared in several films including “City of Ghosts” directed by Matt Dillon and “Following Sean” directed by Ralph Arlick.
Nadia Shihab is a filmmaker and experimental musician based in the Bay Area. She plays with chance and improvisation to discover new visual and sonic rhythms. Her documentary films have screened in festivals internationally and explore themes of place, memory and dislocation. In her live performances, she uses delay and repetition to build dark atmospheres and rhythms streaked with melodic phrasing. Trained as a violinist, she now performs primarily with hardware electronics.
Cost: $6-15 sliding