SOUND & EMPTINESS.

Experiences of silence in music and consciousness

An inquiry, discussion and performance

with Hiroshi Ebina, Chatori Shimizu & Lish Lindsey

6 - 8pm, Sunday May 22

Silence is an intimate and sometimes confronting thing, a space which we can often want to quickly fill. But what do we actually experience when listening attentively to silence? Tranquility? Curiosity? Discomfort? Oppression or freedom? Is silence just a blank space in which to hold sounds and noise? Does silence have a vibration, frequency or musical qualities of its own?

In many Eastern cultural traditions, silence plays a significant philosophical, aesthetic and contemplative role, not only in meditative practices, but in music, film and art. Hiroshi Ebina and Chatori Shimizu are composers and sound artists who perform gagaku; a genre of traditional Japanese music which emphasizes the spaces between sounds as integral to its musicality.

Through an evening of inquiry facilitated by Elaine Su-Hui, and with listening samples and live performances from Hiroshi and Chatori, accompanied by flutist and ryuteki player, Lish Lindsey, we will experientially explore the poignancy of silence in music and consciousness, and how this informs new ways of listening and being in the world.

Hiroshi Ebina is a sound artist, gagaku musician and photographer. Hiroshi started composing and performing ambient music in Tokyo and is now active in New York. He released his first self-produced album, 'Where Memories Dwell,' in February 2016. https://soundcloud.com/hiroshi_audio

Chatori Shimizu (b. 1990, Osaka) is a New York City based composer and sound artist. His award-winning concert music and sound installations have been performed and exhibited throughout Japan, the United States, and Europe. He has also scored for many films, television programs and jingles, popular music, and theater. Shimizu studied composition and sound arts at Kunitachi College of Music (BA) and Columbia University (MFA). www.chatorishimizu.com

Alicia "Lish" Lindsey is a NYC freelance flutist and adjunct music professor at Wilkes University, New Jersey City University, and Mercer County Community College. She is a substitute flutist for the Broadway show, Finding Neverland, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and is a member of the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of NY.  www.lishlindsey.com