This concert features f.org, a duo of homemade electronics and cello, making a rare West Coast appearance. Also performing are local koto player,
Kanoko Nishi-Smith, electronics trio, Peanut Twins, and analog synthesist and sound designer,
Thomas Dimuzio.
$5 suggested donation
F.org, formed in 2012 in San José, Costa Rica, is the improvisational duo of Alexadru Catona and Travis Johns, whose bios are as follows:
Born and raised in Romania, Alex Catona started his early artistic endeavors playing classical cello and studying composition; throughout his ensuing career a number of key encounters/influences with the work of artists such as Ornette Coleman, Jackson Pollock, John Coltrane, Derek Bailey, Bill Dixon, Edward Kienholz, Ken Jacobs, Keiji Haino and Andrei Tarkovski helped helped him begin forging his own path and his own improvisational idiom, a task to which he diligently applies himself to the present day. Under his own name, Alex has composed and performed in dozens of interdisciplinary theatre and film projects and collaborated with such artists as Samir Akika, Markus Michailovski, Norbert Steinwartz, Janet Archer, Lorca Renoux, Alfredo Catania, Hans Klohe, Hernan Jimenez and Jose Arce.
Travis Johns is a sound artist and educator currently residing in Baltimore, Md. As an improvisor, he performs primarily on laptop and electronic instruments of his own design; with studies in the field conducted under the tutelage of Fred Frith, Joelle Leandre and Butch Morris, among others. Active in the Bay Area experimental music scene for several years, Johns moved to Costa Rica in 2011 where he concentrated primarily on building instruments for himself and others – something that he has continued to do since his return to the United States under the nom de plume of VauxFlores. He holds a B.M. in Technology in Music and Related Arts from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studies conducted with Tom Lopez, as well as an MFA from Mills College in Electronic Music and Recording Media, studies conducted with Chris Brown, Les Stuck and Hilda Paredes. He has participated in residencies at such places as the Atlantic Center for the Arts and RPI’s Create @ iEar, and has had work featured by el Museo Centroamericano de Arte Video (MUCEVI), the Electronic Music Foundation, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), and the Bienarte 8 Costa Rican Biennial, and the 2013 Biennial of the Central American Isthmus (BAVIC).
Kanoko Nishi-Smith is a performer currently based in SF/Bay Area. Though classically trained on piano, receiving a BA in Classical Music Performance from Mills College, her recent interest has primarily been in performing 20th century and contemporary musical compositions for piano as well as for koto (Japanese 13-string zither), and free-improvisation in various different contexts, with musicians, as well as dancers, poets, and visual artists.
Thomas Dimuzio is a musician, composer, improviser, sound designer, mastering engineer, label proprietor and music technologist residing in San Francisco. Inspired as much by John Cage as Led Zeppelin, Dimuzio’s music is like a sonic excursion that transports the listener into other worldly aural realms. “His work has a narrative, filmic tug that will draw you into its dark corners, ears alert… brilliant and rarely less than entertaining” (Peter Marsh, BBC). His recordings have been released internationally by ReR Megacorp, Asphodel, RRRecords, No Fun Productions, Sonoris, Drone Records, Record Label Records, Odd Size, Seeland, and other independent labels. Among his collaborators are Chris Cutler, Dan Burke, Joseph Hammer, Anla Courtis, Nick Didkovsky, Due Process, Voice of Eye, Fred Frith, David Lee Myers, 5uu’s, Matmos, Wobbly and Negativland. Most recently Dimuzio played at AngelicA Festival Internazionale di Musica as a featured soloist with the Orchestra of Teatro Comunale of Bologna for a performance of Chris Cutler’s p53.
http://www.thomasdimuzio.com/
Peanut Twins is the experimental multimedia duo of J.C. Brown Jr. and E.A. Cohen, formed in 2015 at Mills College in Oakland, California — drawing from noise, free improvisation, electronic & electroacoustic music, folk, jazz, rock, surrealism, absurdism, mysticism, other isms & etc. the Twins craft a singular leguminous visitation equal portions catharsis and contemplation under the axiom of nothing is true, everything is Peanut Twins.
For this event the Twins will be performing as a trio w/ the always awesome Kim Nucci aka the Third Peanut.
Curt Brown is an Oakland-based artist from Akron, Ohio where he was a co-founder of the Rubber City Noise art collective. Brown has recorded and performed w/ the following projects: Baingan Bharta, Blckdth, Black Unicorn, Cane Swords, Dennis Franz Kafka, Euc Arya, Map Collection, Mousecop, Peanut Twins, The Black Eyed Keys, Wyld Stallyns, and others. He has released projects on Deep Distance, Eucarya Press, Field Hymns, Further Records, Hausu Mountain, Infraction, Patternbased, RCN, and Under The Spire and been featured in print and digital media like Anti-Gravity Bunny, Clash Magazine, Decoder, Tabs Out, Tiny Mix Tapes, The Wire, and Wonderland Magazine. [eucarya.net / rubbercitynoise.com]
Alex Cohen is a performance artist, guitarist and composer. From 2007-2014, Alex performed regularly with the jazz fusion group Organ Yank. Since joining the Bay Area’s vibrant artistic community, Alex’s work has shifted toward theatrical forms, often involving found objects and homemade wearable instruments. He has performed with Huge Statue of Jesus, NucciCohen Duo, Harbinger, Hamir Atwal, Eyvind Kang, Dennis Franz Kafka, Bad Jazz, Peanut Twins, Paul Mitchell, and Vincent Davis. [https://soundcloud.com/alexcohenmusic]
Kim Nucci is a multimedia artist/composer who also plays saxophones. She is interested in exploring concepts of cybernetics, dystopia, and erosion. "As a composer, I am deeply engaged with concepts of ensemble networking and interface, player autonomy and the multidimensional spectra of relationships that can exist between composer and performer, conductor and ensemble, outer-self and inner-self." She is currently pursuing another master’s degree in Electronic Music and Recording Media at Mills. [https://soundcloud.com/kimnucci]
Cost: $5