Julia Kent
Music for looped and processed cello
Cellist and composer Julia Kent (Anohni and the Johnsons) makes music using layered and processed cello, electronics, and found sounds, creating haunting and evocative soundscapes that range from hushed intimacy to cinematic expansiveness. She will perform a free, site-specific piece for looped and processed cello, electronics, and field recordings inspired by the natural environment of PS21 and James Casebere’s artwork, Solo Pavilion for Two or Three. No registration required.
I make music using looped and processed cello, electronics, and found sounds. For Groundtone, I’ll play a selection of pieces from my solo records: Delay, Green and Grey, Character, Asperities, and Temporal, plus some new, unreleased music. I will end with a site-specific piece I made using field recordings from PS21’s beautiful grounds, interacting with the sounds of this special place, and creating a musical background to the cycles of nature.
For me, music is a way of communicating emotion, and trying to connect without language, expectations, and the barriers those can create. Performing in this environment, and in relation to James Casebere’s work, I hope will create a dialogue that respects the many layers of life that we all inhabit.
Duration: approximately 50 minutes
Cellist and composer Julia Kent was born in Vancouver, Canada, and lives in New York City. She makes music using layered and processed cello, electronics, and found sounds, creating haunting and evocative soundscapes that range from hushed intimacy to cinematic expansiveness. She has released five solo records, the most recent being Temporal on UK label Leaf, and has toured throughout North America and Europe, including appearances at Primavera Sound, Mutek Montreal, Meltdown, and Unsound.
She also composes for film, television, theatre, and dance, including award-winning film scores and music for productions at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, BAM Fishman Space in New York City, Ballett Nationaltheater Mannheim, and Balletto Teatro di Torino.
GROUNDTONE is PS21’s new music festival—a weekend-long celebration of adventurous music making, with dazzling performances by fresh, singular voices from across today’s musical landscape.
The festival presents concerts in nontraditional, immersive settings all across our grounds—in the round, in the fields, and beyond.
Part of Upstate Art Weekend, GROUNDTONE is all ages, with something for everyone—free workshops and performances during the day, and ticketed shows each evening. Food and drink will be available all weekend.
Weekend passes are just $75. Day passes are also available for Friday and Saturday, or purchase tickets to any individual show.
Special thanks to Jack Shear for his generous help with the restoration of Solo Pavilion for Two or Three.
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