Zeena Parkins solo on acoustic harp and electric with Ryan Ross Smith and Ryan Sawyer.
Zeena Parkins – composer/harpist
Ryan Ross Smith – piano/electronics/programmer
Ryan Sawyer – drums
Avant-harpist Zeena Parkins performs The Captiva Pieces, a solo set of new works for acoustic harp developed for In Tow, a collaborative project with choreographer Jennifer Monson, and created at the Rauschenberg Residency on Captiva Island, Florida. The performance will be followed by Zeena’s band Green Dome (members Ryan Ross Smith and Ryan Sawyer), who will be performing movements from LACE, an ongoing project that uses pieces of lace and knitting patterns as scores.
New York-based composer and performer Ryan Ross Smith has performed as a pianist and electronicist throughout the US, Europe and UK, including performances at MoMA, MoMA PS1, LaMaMa, and Le Centre Pompidou. Smith has presented his work on animated music notation at conferences including NIME, Tenor2015, ICLI, ISEA and the Deep Listening Conference, and has lectured widely at colleges and universities.
San Antonio-born drummer Ryan Sawyer honed his craft through academic orchestra and marching band and was quick to find the colloquial conjunto, zydeco, and punk rock music of his hometown equally inspiring and freeing. Ryan plays and records with an ever-growing group of improvisers and bands: Oso Blanco (members Colin Stetson, Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh), Boredoms, Cass McCombs, Thurston Moore, Matana Roberts, and Rhys Chatham, among others.
Zeena Parkins is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, improviser and pioneer of contemporary harp practice and performance. She has mastered and extended the language of the acoustic harp and, through a series of innovative electric models, exploded the instrument through playing techniques, preparations, and custom designed electronic processing. Her performances, recordings, and collaborations include: Bjork, Ikue Mori, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Christian Marclay, Elliott Sharp, Maja Ratkje, Nate Wooley, Okkyung Lee, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Matmos, Yoko Ono and Yasunao Tone.
