The finale of Noh Reimagined saw the premiere of OM – a live composition by Mariam Rezaei, Director of the turntable ensemble NOISESTRA.
Teaming up with electronic guitarist Adam Denton, Rezaei created improvisations based on three Haikus by Matsuo Bashō and the Noh stories ‘Kantan’ and ‘Kurozuka’, as chosen by Rezaei and Yukihiro Isso.
Mariam remixed these short stories and stitched them together into a longer narrative. Noh performers and dancers improvised alongside Mariam and Adam, with the stories divided into five movements, each representing particular Noh pieces and Haiku. The experience was a fantastic combination of Noh theatre and pulsing, electronic music.
As well as becoming the first Composer in Residence at the Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle, Mariam Rezaei has performed with NOISESTRA for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad alongside the Apartment House Orchestra at the Sage Gateshead. Ilan Volkov invited her to be a guest improviser at the BBC Proms in 2012, part of the John Cage Centenary Celebration. She also performed Jig Hop with Kathryn Tickell and Folkestra for the BT River of Music Festival as part of the London Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony celebrations. Her additional work includes recent performance research with Richard Dawson and a new BFI project with Noize Choir. Other international commissions include collaborations with Michael Dulch and Ilan Volkov, as well as ANX, written for TECTONICS GLASGOW, members of the BBC SSO and the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, which premiered on May 1st and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Adam Denton is a trans-disciplinary musician and cultural researcher with a background in exploratory guitar noise. He is a Director of The Old Police House, Gateshead, and has toured the UK and Europe extensively. Ongoing collaborative research and performance projects include The Audacious Art Experiment, Trans/Human and Mutual Process.
