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Details
The Octagon
Queen Mary University Of London
327 Mile End Rd
Bethnal Green
London
E1 4NS
England
Programme
Salvador Sánchez – El Aquelarre
Yiannis Maramathas – *New Work*
Poe Lara – Chiaroscuro
Paul Edlin – FRIDA
Performers
Katie Bray – mezzo-soprano
Matthew Hardy – Conductor
East London Music Group
Programme Note
East London Music Group presents a performance of FRIDA by Paul Max Edlin. This operatic monodrama sets text from the diary of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in twelve tableaux, exploring different episodes of her life and her turbulent relationship with muralist Diego Rivera. Following the success at the Oxford Festival of the Arts in 2019, the role of Frida will again be sung by mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, described by Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard as “magnetic”. The performance will also include the premieres of brand new pieces by three up-and-coming composers: Yiannis Maramathas, Lara Poe, and Salvador Sánchez, all featuring the Magnetic Resonator Piano.
FRIDA by Paul Max Edlin is a 50-minute work containing a dazzling variety of tone colour and rhythmic invention. Requiring a wide emotional range from the mezzo soloist and great technical ability from the instrumentalists, it portrays the joy, anguish, and humour in a series of episodes from the life of this fascinating artist. The text is taken directly from the artist’s diary.
At the centre of the ensemble is the Magnetic Resonator Piano (MRP), created by Prof. Andrew McPherson, leader of the Augmented Instruments Laboratory at QMUL’s Centre for Digital Music. The MRP uses a system of magnets to induce vibrations in the piano in order to acoustically create infinite sustain, crescendos, harmonics, pitch bends and new timbres, all controlled from the piano keyboard.
In an educational collaboration between ELMG and the Royal College of Music (RCM) Composition Department, three young composers (Yiannis Maramathas, Lara Poe, and Salvador Sanchez) have created brand new works all featuring the MRP. The composers received a demonstration of the instrument in 2019 by Andrew McPherson and were able to spend time experimenting with it. Fast-forward to June 2022 and the composers participated in a workshop led by RCM Composition Professor Haris Kittos, in which they received feedback from the musicians.
