Meet the Composer

Composer Matt Aiken will perform live the premier of a new percussion piece created in collaboration with choreographer Amy Kail. This piece will be a continuation of work that Ms. Kail and Mr. Aiken have been doing together over the last five years in which they draw on images, words and formal structures. Mr. Aikens taped sounds, computer generated sounds and live percussion creates an environment for and interaction with Ms. Kails movement work. In this piece, both Mr. Aiken and Ms. Kail will perform live with rhythm being a central point of interaction between the sound and movement. Both choreographer and composer will be working in a base rhythm of sevens each choosing to emphasize different beats. The two are going to create their pieces concurrently, and the relationship of sound to movement will be discovered through the process. Some moments will be danced in silence, some with sound and the body still and some will have both sound and movement interacting. Mr. Aiken and Ms. Kail will be drawing on a novel written by Susanna Moore about a woman who killed both her children, and the psychiatrist who is treating her in prison. Although in the final performance the audience may not be able to discern a specific narrative, the creative work will be developed from the psychological process through which the mind both hides from and discovers reality.