On Friday, May 17th 2024 we proudly presented experimental guitarist Elliott Sharp (NYC), multimodal artist Matt Swift (CMH), and Cincy-based composer/sound artist Owen Hopper (OH) at the Priscilla R. Tyson Columbus Cultural Arts Center.
About the artist:
Elliott Sharp is a composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, and author who leads the projects Orchestra Carbon, SysOrk, Tectonics and Terraplane. His compositional strategies have encompassed the use of fractal geometry, chaos theory, algorithms, genetic metaphors, and new techniques for graphic notation to yield work that catalyzes a synesthetic approach to musicmaking as well as functioning as retinal art.
In 2015, Sharp was awarded the Berlin Prize and in 2014 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fellowship from the Center for Transformative Media. He has been featured in the Darmstadt and Huddersfield festivals, New Music Stockholm, Au Printemps-Paris, and the Venice Biennale. His book IrRational Music, a mix of memoir, cultural discussion, and music theory was published in 2019. He is the subject of the documentary film Doing The Don’t and has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.
Sharp’s composition Storm of the Eye appeared on violinist Hilary Hahn’s Grammy-winning album In 27 Pieces. His opera Die Grösste Fuge premiered in Bonn as part of Beethoven@250 and his opera Filiseti Mekidesi premiered at the RuhrTriennale in 2018. Sound installations include Fluvial, Chromatine, and Tag. Sharp’s collaborators have included Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; pianist Cecil Taylor; Ensemble Modern; pop singer Debbie Harry; blues legends Hubert Sumlin and Pops Staples; JACK Quartet; jazz greats Jack Dejohnette and Sonny Sharrock; and media artist Christian Marclay. Many of Sharp’s releases may be found at the zOaR Records Bandcamp site.